Why 10 teams?

Quite. An embarrassing stance.

Why 10 teams, because it has always been the PRL's aim to have 10 team, and we have always been at war with East Asia.

Why ten in the Championship, because that then gives four pools of five for the Cup. I believe it is no more than that.

With no favoured teams needing to be relegated, I suspect there will be no more talk of the second tier being funded. The ten are not keen to give anything away.

The premiership cup will be retained and will be played during the autumn international period with further rounds played during the 6 nations.

This will allow league matches to be played when all of the club's international players are available thereby making it a better product across the 18 league games.

I don't expect to see anything like level funding for a tier 2 club as the premiership sides know that 3 home games in the cup will be almost guaranteed sell outs and a ' good ' earner for a level 2 club.

I suspect that promotion/ relegation will remain in the form of a play off between the bottom placed premiership side and the tier 2 winners.

The conundrum for the RFU is how are they going to improve the failing academy system where young players are getting less game time and the conversion rate from under 20 level to full international is falling.

Will academy players go out on season long loans to tier 2 club's or will they be even more radical and place the academies with level 2 club's on a full time basis.

This would help the level 2 club's enormously and help fill any funding shortfall.

Whatever is decided I feel that rugby on and off the field is in crisis and the RFU/ PRL must get this right for the long term future of the game we all love.

If these areas had interest… they would have a team that has risen through the leagues! 

I think Level 2 is more sustainable than Level 1.

Franchises work where you have multi-purpose stadiums or where geography dictates, it won’t work in England. The country to copy is France.

Sometimes I wonder if I've dreamed the last 150 years. Birmingham didn't need a team to rise through the leagues because it had one at or near the top - and that was in the Championship until 2016. It also has Championship-level facilities. My completely-not-paranoid worry here is that a 'Birmingham needs a franchise' call is really a trojan horse for Wasps being parachuted in over Moseley's head.

By the way, whilst I'm a Moseley fan, I'd have no quarrel with a Birmingham side rising through the leagues and going past us to the top, it's dumping someone in above us that would grate - to say the least. Southampton or East London is one thing - Birmingham is a completely different case where there is a club that has pretty much always been in level 1 or 2 since leagues began (minus a brief sojourn at level 3 in the mid 2000s and the current situation), but now suddenly 'Birmingham needs a level 2 franchise'

Just so we're clear, I wouldn't particularly want Mose to bid for said franchise (I'd rather get back there via on-pitch performance) - but I think we'd have to to try and maintain the moral highground that Birmingham doesn't need a failed premiership group of nomads dumping on us.

But I suspect it is all a fig leaf for Wasps...

Thanks Tiger.

I thought this was the case too from a Northampton saints angle.