there were millionaires when they came into the game, sirjohn hall and nigel wray.se guys are still there, and it just creates pressure. and when the athlete in the middle is wanted by two owners, effectively, then you have tension, and rugby has always had this tension. and a big part of my role, the reason i went to the rfu, was to try and control that tension, if you like, and create a working environment. but it's very difficult, and the more money that gets involved, the bigger those tensions become. how much do the club owners care about international rugby? well, i think deep down they still do. and i think, deep down... they don't act as if they do. it's a really difficult challenge. and one of the big debates that's happening at the moment is around season structure, and length of season. and what the owners don't like, and to be honest, i didn't like very much when i was at newcastle with sirjohn hall, where your best player, we had jonny wilkinson, went missing for big parts of the season. and it's a bit like club football — man united and chelsea and spu

and look, i was at the beginning of that in 1995, when i went to newcastle with sirjohn hall, and wed for paying exorbitant salaries then of £50,000 per year. now, you have this issue in rugby where the game is split between union control and private ownership, which is a bit of a football model. and itjust which is a bit of a football model. and it just creates which is a bit of a football model. and itjust creates loads and loads of tensions. on the model in football is that the club owners get more and more powerful. do you see the same happening in rugby union? undoubtedly, there is no question of that. it is probably only in england and france that this happens, so we almost have a two tier system in by. almost have a two tier system in rugby. we have private club ownership in england and france, with significant amounts of money, significant wealth in owners who are not just significant wealth in owners who are notjust millionaires now but billionaires. there were millionaires when they came into the game, sirjohn hall and millionaires when they came into the game, sirjohn hall