Information provided to LEK Consulting but not so far used

The following information was provided to LEK Consulting, but not incorporated in The Way Forward ‘Fact Base’.

The Guinness Premiership clubs want to make this information available to our supporters for two reasons. To confirm that it was offered to the RFU for inclusion in ‘The Way Forward’ as it was being compiled, but also to allow supporters to use the information to inform their views in the ongoing debate on the future of in .

1. Comparison of Guinness Premiership versus other leagues

1.1 Guinness Premiership data points, close matches, tries etc.) v French , Magners League and Super 14. This was after Round 14.

6. Guinness Premiership

The Guinness Premiership compares favourably with other leagues

Close Ave. Points per Tries per Average games winning match match attendances margin Guinness Premiership 49% 10.52 41.60 4.06 11,038 (after R14)

Top 14 44% 13.25 39.50 3.23 10.069

Magners League 45% 11.34 39.67 3.91 6,455

Super 14 47% 12.62 46.21 5.04 23,842 (2006 )

2. Relative European Performance – last 6 years

2.1 The breadth of success among Premiership Clubs and the French clubs and the relative narrowness of Irish and Welsh success. Only Munster, Leinster and Llanelli from those countries have qualified from the Heineken Cup pool stages, in the last six years. European Performance

Since 2001/02 – 6 years – QF Stage

England France Ireland Wales Scotland

Bath (2) Castres Munster (6) Llanelli (4) Edinburgh (5) Montferrand Leinster (5) (3) Stade Francais (4) Wasps (2) Toulouse (4) Biarritz (5) Newcastle Perpignan (2) Sale 15 17 11 4 1

7 teams 6 teams 2 teams 1 team 1 team

2.2 The increasing number of English clubs reaching the Heineken Cup quarter finals since Rugby World Cup 2003, which was not being achieved pre 2003.

European Performance

Heineken Cup

Quarter Final Semi Final Final Winner

2000/01 2 (2 home) 2 1 1

2001/02 2 (2 home) 1 1 1

2002/03 2 (1 home) - - -

2003/04 2 (1 home) 1 1 1

2004/05 3 (no home) 1 - -

2005/06 3 (1 home) 1 - -

2006/07 3 (2 home) TBD TBD TBD

2.3 The English dominance of the European Challenge Cup.

European Performance European Challenge Cup

Quarter Final Semi Final Final Winner

2000/01 2 2 1 1 2001/02 5 3 1 1 2002/03 4 3 2 1 2003/04 3 2 1 1 2004/05 2 1 1 1 2005/06 5 4 2 1 2006/07 4 TBD TBD TBD

2.4 The Clubs’ view on the need for them to be the driving force behind the Club competitions.

Club Competitions

• Clubs are best placed to drive these competitions forward and have track record • playing quality • commercial success

• Premiership, ERC, Anglo Welsh

3. Playing Data – Relative to Other Countries

3.1 The negligible differences in the number of games our international players are playing.

International Players 2006 – Six Nations

England Ireland France Wales Scotland Italy Players 25 24 28 29 25 24 Used

Av Games 25.2 24.9 25.9 23.0 23.7 21.5 in season (40+ mins)

3.2 When analysed by position, any significant differences for any country (excluding Italy) are a result of injury situations, whether in Ireland (e.g. Brian O‘Driscoll), Wales (e.g. Mark Taylor) or England (e.g. Matt Stevens).

International Players 2006 - Six Nations 6N Players – Average Games in Season

* Indicates numbers affected by long term injury/suspension issues

England Ireland France Wales Scotland Italy

Props 20.8* 25.0 27.0 24.6 22.6 21.8

Hookers 24.8 22.0 18.0 22.5 18.3 21.5

Locks 27.7 22.8* 27.0 26.7 25.8 24.3

Back Row 24.8 24.2 23.6 23.0 23.8 19.8*

Half Backs 22.5 24.7 25.0 21.4 22.8 18.0*

Centres 27.2 23.0* 27.6 21.8* 25.7 25.5

Back 3 29.2 29.0 30.6 22.6 26.0 22.3

3.3 The players believe the number of Guinness Premiership games is right.

Premiership Matches Do you believe the current number of Premiership matches, currently 22 per club per season, is: No opinion Too few 3% 2%

Too many 22%22

18% - English players vs 28% - Non-English players

74% The right amount

Base: All players (398)

3.4 The definition of 40+ mins as a match is about right.

What constitutes Playing a Match? Currently a player is deemed to have played a match if they have played more than forty minutes. Assuming there should be a limit, how many minutes should a player take part in for this to count as having played a match? 20% Average c.42 mins 18% 18% 14% 11% 9% 7%

2% 0%

s s s s s s s s h in in in in in in in in tc a m m m m m m m m 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -10 2 -3 -4 5 -6 -7 -8 ll m 1 1- 1- u 1 21 31 4 51 61 71 F

Base: All EPS/NSA (44) 4. Player Welfare Trends

4.1 The training injuries (as well as match injuries which are included in the LEK analysis) have been consistently falling which is evidence of the benefits of management.

Injury Audit

Injuries/1,000 hours Average Days Club Int'l* Club Int'l* Rugby Training 02/03 3.3 4.5 28 15 03/04 1.7 7.6 26 12 05/06 2.2 0.6 22 4

Strength/Conditioning Training 02/03 2.3 4 13 4 03/04 1.3 6.3 17 13 05/06 1.5 0 16 - * Relatively small number of internationals

4.2 Burnout risk scores are trending down.

Burnout Risk

Reduced Emotional/Physical Premiership Accomplishment Exhaustion Sport Devaluation

% 04/05 05/06 06/07 04/05 05/06 06/07 04/05 05/06 06/07

August - 8 10 - 39 40 - 1 5 January 14 15 - 46 41 - 10 5 - April 23 15 - 47 38 - 11 9 -