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 373 wrote:

 JonDee wrote:

Agree totally unfortunately kids are now encouraged to train and practices as they will earn a lot more from rugby than getting  exams and maybe going to UNI. In the good old days most of us had been to Uni or had a decent job and could afford to play for fun . Rugby has followed the round ball game in encouraging very good kids to aim for the sky, unfortunately rugby only has one level where the pay is good in football you can still earn a decent wage in League 2 or National League
Absolute nonsense. Academies are constantly pushing lads to complete their education because there's an understanding that there isn't the money in the game to be sustainable in the short term outside of the Prem and even if you become a Premiership player, you're lucky to get 10 years in the game.

The pressure on wages has entirely come from the community game and is a self inflicted wound.

Historically when the game went pro the pressure on wages was two fold - John Hall wanted Rob Andrew to be his star player but had to pay him what he was earning in his city day job plus rugby money plus move to Newcastle money which vastly inflated the money players started to earn at the top end. 

Added to that a lot of clubs in the community game decided to have a paid player / coach and as they only had to find one set of wages that also inflated the expectations at level 2 / 3.