FILE PHOTO: Rugby Union - Premiership Rugby Cup - Semi Final - Ealing Trailfinders vs Leicester Tigers - Trailfinders Rugby Club, London, Britain - February 18, 2024 Leicester Tigers' Matt Scott scores a try. Andy Couldridge/Action Images/File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) -The second tier of English club rugby is to be relaunched as “Champ Rugby” with a new promotion and relegation structure and promises of an easier pathway into the Premiership for ambitious clubs previously stymied by exacting demands on ground capacity.
Revealed by the RFU on Thursday, the 14-team league for next season will include the 12 current clubs, a re-formed Worcester, who went bust and dropped out of the Premiership 2022, and Richmond, champions of the third tier National League this season.
