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A breakaway organisation led by England stars have agreed to a wide-ranging four-year contract with the Rugby Football Union.
Team England Rugby are a first-of-a-kind player-led organisation which has England stars Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Maro Itoje, Joe Marler and Anthony Watson on their board.
They have brokered a new Elite Playing Squad (EPS) agreement covering all aspects of playing for the national team, including commercial and welfare considerations.
The deal begins with immediate effect and runs through to 2028.
The England men’s team’s fees and commercial deals had previously been negotiated on their behalf by the Rugby Players Association (RPA) but it was announced in January that relationship was ending, with the last RPA-brokered deal ending in the summer.
TER were set up as a not-for-profit organisation in January to represent the team’s collective views on all playing and commercial matters, address welfare concerns, ensure more tailored management of elite players and to work collaboratively with the RFU and other stakeholders towards the growth of the overall game.
The agreement includes new financial terms for the players, and introduces an exemption process to manage player load, where an individual is getting close to the 30-game limit agreed in September as part of the Professional Game Partnership.
The parties have also agreed to a research project to be undertaken and reviewed at the end of the 2024-25 season, which will inform future welfare and rest provisions.
(Photo by Alex Davidson – RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)
England captain and TER board member George said: “While we have reservations about some aspects of the current protocols, we’re encouraged by the progress made. Reducing games from 35 to 30 demonstrates a commitment to player welfare that we believe is crucial for the success of English rugby.
“However, the intensity of international rugby is greater than ever, and we believe that specific international rest protocols need to be explored. We hope that the results of the research project will support this.”
The new agreement provides increased commercial and profile-building opportunities for players, with TER and RFU to work together on some commercial projects.
Genge added: “As a group, we felt that there was an opportunity with the new agreement to look at the commercialisation of England players, both collectively and individually, and we wanted to be at the forefront of these changes.”
The TER player board makes the majority of decisions on behalf of the wider squad, unless a squad-wide decision is required, when a voting process is put in place.
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