ADVERTISEMENT
RugbyDump
REGISTER
LOGIN
ADVERTISEMENT
RugbyDump
Friday Feb 14, 2020

Campaign started by former England and Saracens lock

Former England and Saracens lock Mouritz Botha has encouraged past and present Premiership players to share the hashtag #iplayedchampionshiprugby on Twitter.

ADVERTISEMENT

This comes after the Rugby Football Union’s decision to slash funding for Championship sides in England ahead of next season, which has been much maligned by those that have played in England’s second tier.

This includes 20 players from the England squad that recently played Scotland who have played in the Championship or leagues below, let alone the rest of the Premiership.

The 10-cap former England lock Botha has therefore urged players that have benefited from playing in the league to share the hashtag, also tagging the Premiership, Championship and England Rugby in the Tweet.

Botha is not alone in his disapproval, as a significant number of players across England’s top two leagues, including in the England team, have warned of how damaging this could be.

WATCH: Mouritz Botha crunches Jean Deysel in Saracens vs Sharks friendly

Botha started his career in England in the Championship, playing for Bedford Blues, before being picked up by Saracens. He now coaches Ampthill in the league, so his association with England’s second tier runs deep. He recently said he has the ambition of coaching at the top level, but “cutting funding will take these opportunities away from a lot of talented players and coaches”.

ADVERTISEMENT

These sentiments have been shared by many other players, so this Twitter campaign may help unify many different voices rather than individual posts by players.

This is where there is a clear divergence in opinion between the players and the RFU, after chief executive Bill Sweeney recently said that “The Championship is, and will continue to be, a useful way for players to get additional developmental experience, but we do not believe it is the primary place where Premiership and England players are discovered and developed.”

There is a growing number of players that disagree with that.

ALSO WATCH:

ADVERTISEMENT
Video Spacer

Related Articles

  • 33 WEEKS AGO

    Ellis Genge puts on his boxing gloves ready...

  • 33 WEEKS AGO

    Crazy scenes as player deliberately kicks...

  • 33 WEEKS AGO

    RFU make decision on transgender players...



ADVERTISEMENT

Great Tries

  • 3 DAYS AGO

    Heart Breaking Six Nations Ending For Italy As Scotland Score Long Range Try

  • 2 WEEKS AGO

    Montpellier Number Eight Zach Mercer Outlandish Attacking Skill

  • 5 WEEKS AGO

    Damian Penaud Pulls Off a "van der Merwe" in Outrageous French Try

  • 5 WEEKS AGO

    Ireland Winger James Lowe With World Class Finish In Titanic Battle With France

  • 6 WEEKS AGO

    Sonny-Bill Williams Gives Irish U20 Star A Shoutout For Classy Offload

View All

Big Hits & Dirty Play

  • 2 DAYS AGO

    England and Ireland fans express disappointment in grand slam refereeing decisions

  • 3 DAYS AGO

    England Fullback Shown Red For Collision With Opposite Number

  • 5 DAYS AGO

    Springbok Flyhalf Back With A Bang In Huge Development For World Champions

  • 1 WEEK AGO

    Shocking Scenes As Rugby Players Attacked Following Rivalry Clash In South Africa

  • 5 WEEKS AGO

    A Look Back At Rugby’s Greatest Ever Film

View All

See It To Believe It

  • 5 WEEKS AGO

    Ardie Savea Moment Of Magic In Super Rugby Aotearoa

  • 5 WEEKS AGO

    'Armchair athletes' berate Arundell's seriously impressive bench press

  • 6 WEEKS AGO

    Worcester Warriors - The End

  • 7 WEEKS AGO

    Sevens magic as 'headed' try brings stadium to its feet

  • 9 WEEKS AGO

    Almost 35,000 have now signed petition to reverse new grassroots tackle laws

View All

Funnies

  • 1 WEEK AGO

    Jonathan Sexton Fantastic Comeback Caught On Ref Mic

  • 2 WEEKS AGO

    Hilarious Footage Of English Players Post Leg Day Workout

  • 3 WEEKS AGO

    Mack Hansen leaves viewers in stitches with hilarious post-match interview mistake

  • 5 WEEKS AGO

    A Look Back At Rugby’s Greatest Ever Film

  • 5 WEEKS AGO

    "Talk Is Cheap" - Jamie Ritchie Responds To Dan Biggar's Pre-Match Comments

View All

Amateur

  • 10 WEEKS AGO

    You Won’t See Many Better Than This Silky-Smooth Try From Llandovery RFC

  • 10 WEEKS AGO

    Incredible Scenes As Caldy RFC Hand Ealing First Championship Defeat Of The Season

  • 33 WEEKS AGO

    Dubious Score Decides Result Of Rugby's Biggest Schools Fixture

  • 33 WEEKS AGO

    Incredible Scenes At School Boys Rugby Match

  • 34 WEEKS AGO

    The Next Dominant Backrow?

View All

Player Features

  • 2 WEEKS AGO

    Youth and experience combine in an effort to repeat Six Nations upset

  • 2 WEEKS AGO

    Wales international releases emotional statement after being offered contract that isn’t enough to feed family

  • 2 WEEKS AGO

    Ardie Savea causes outrage with ‘throat slitting’ gesture

  • 3 WEEKS AGO

    Smith, Marchant and Murley released from England camp to take part in 'Big Game 14'

  • 3 WEEKS AGO

    Mack Hansen leaves viewers in stitches with hilarious post-match interview mistake

View All