R360 breakaway rebels could be stopped before they get going

Details this week were leaked to the Sydney Morning Herald in Australia, including start dates and locations. And while The Observer has verified that some of that information is accurate, other parts are not.

The inaugural tournament will indeed launch on Friday, 2 October next year and feature six men’s and four women’s teams. A draft will take place next July, attempting to emulate the NFL, as the many R360 players are allocated to their new teams.

Three years’ worth of funding has been agreed, backing R360 until it tries to reach profitability in 2028, and some of the investors, 885 Capital, have a background in start-up competitions including the Baller League and the Professional Fighters League.

The Observer, however, can reveal that the list of locations reported earlier this week may end up being wide of the mark. Could R360 end up in Miami or Lisbon as suggested? Possibly. But right now, all those mentioned locations – London, Tokyo, Miami, Dubai, Boston, Cape Town, Lisbon and Madrid – are still to be locked in and not guaranteed.

As for the men’s and women’s players themselves, a very high percentage of those signed up play Test rugby and the average age is believed to be about 27. Or to put it another way – this is no retirement league full of veterans looking for a final payday.

There are still many questions, beyond the leaks of the last few weeks. Even if the R360 calendar does not clash with Test windows, will the unions really allow for players to represent their countries if they are based overseas or playing outside the Prem? The noise in the last few days suggests not.

Right now, with funding confirmed, there is a sense of momentum. “All systems go” was how one source put it. A spokesperson for R360 added: “We’re excited to launch our global league next year, which has been designed to showcase the best male and female players in the world, capture the imagination of fans and grow our sport in the years ahead.”

But a defiant statement from the Rugby Football Union and its counterparts insisting that the R360 players will be ineligible for international selection would halt everything.

Ruthless Bath

You cannot really give out player-of the-match awards to entire groups of spectators, but those braving the elements in the exposed sections of The Rec on Friday certainly earned a hot drink. Bath delivering a win, and the improving prospects of a new stadium, will have helped them dry out.

Under Johann van Graan, the defending champions have become ruthless on their own patch, emerging from 80 minutes in the washing machine with a bonus-point win thanks to another Ben Spencer ­tactical masterclass and in spite of three of their key lineout forwards – Quinn Roux, Charlie Ewels and Ted Hill – all picking up injuries.

It may never work out for Spencer and England with Alex Mitchell now clearly the first choice at scrum-half, but in atrocious conditions, Spencer was imperious. One perfect 50:22 kick, having quickly removed the ball from a creaking scrum, turned Sale pressure into excellent field position. In this meeting between two of the game’s great conductors in Spencer and George Ford, it was the former who emerged on top, despite Ford striking two outstanding drop-goals through the rain in the first half.

Steve Borthwick, the England head coach watching in the stands, will have certainly enjoyed Spencer’s performance, including his chip for Max Ojomoh’s deft finish for the final try. The scrummaging of young prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour up against Beno Obano, winning a key scrum penalty in the second half with Sale pinned deep in their own 22, will have also pleased Borthwick.

Alex Sanderson saw the physicality and determination that he wanted from Sale but not the accuracy. Sale are good enough to meet Bath again in the final next summer and there will be easier nights to deploy intricate attacks. Still, Sanderson’s comments were pointed. We know Sale can scrap, but as he hinted, to take the next step, they will need more composure.

Gloucester, beaten by Sale in the season opener, are favourites in today’s only Prem fixture against Northampton, who have an alarming 19 players unavailable.

Photograph by Michael Steele & Bob Bradford/Getty Images