If Clubs have equal league points and equal number of wins then a Club with a larger difference between match points “for” and match points “against” shall be placed higher in the Premiership League than a Club with a smaller difference between match points “for” and match points “against”.

Should two Clubs have the same number of league points and the same match points difference, the Club having scored more match points “for” shall be placed higher in the Premiership League than the Club having the lesser number of match points “for”.

If the above does not establish different Premiership League positions then the Club in the higher position shall be the Club that has achieved the higher aggregate match points scored by it in the same season against the other Club.

If this still does not establish the position then the Club who has won the most matches, excluding its first Premiership League match of the season, then its second Premiership League match and so on, until it can be established which the higher placed Club is.

Foreign players
The legal definition of foreign players is different to one of non-English players.

Bosman and Kolpak
The Bosman ruling reinforced the Treaty of Rome in a sporting context, allowing the free movement of EU national workers around other EU countries. This effectively means any EU national has the same rights as any ‘local’ worker and therefore cannot be defined as a foreigner.

The Kolpak ruling means any person from a country that has workers rights agreements with another, must also treat that person as if they were a local or EU worker. In the case of the UK, this gives workers from South Africa, Tonga, Fiji and Samoa for example, EU rights. However, these rights are dependent on the national first gaining a work permit, so an International player for South Africa may get a work permit and would then be entitled to workers rights under Kolpak. A player for Sharks may not get that work permit and would not then be entitled to any additional rights under Kolpak.

Guinness Premiership rules
The current rule on foreign players is that a maximum of one foreign player can be on the pitch at any one time. The exception is during international release periods - including Autumn Internationals, Six Nations and Rugby World Cup - where a maximum of three foreign players can be on the pitch. The definition of a foreign player is a player that does not have European working rights. Those classed as foreign players include Australian, New Zealand, American, Canadian and Argentinean players.

Some of the greatest players of the last decade have played in the Premiership and many of those helped develop our local talent. Premier Rugby supports the national side and therefore we support the development of quality English players. However, we cannot operate without recognising the stipulations of employment law.

Rulings such as Bosman and Kolpak mean the term ‘foreign player’ no longer applies to solely non-English players, meaning rules designed to contribute to an English Premiership are difficult to formulate.

Salary cap
Each club must comply with the Premier Rugby Squad Capping Rules and Regulations. For the Squad Cap Year 1st July 2007 to 30th June 2008, the Senior Ceiling is £2,182,176 and the Academy Ceiling is £190,962.

The cap is designed to encourage larger squad sizes and Premier Rugby has created mechanisms to ensure allowances exist for clubs to increase their squad sizes.

An additional £250,000 is available on the proviso that the Club produces to the Premier Rugby Squad Capping Operations Manager, before the first match of that Club in any Competition during the relevant Squad Cap Year, written confirmation that it has a minimum squad size of 40 players capable of performing in the Guinness Premiership contracted for the entire Squad Cap Year and listing such players.

Entry and ongoing criteria
Clubs wishing to play in the Premiership in Season 2008/9 must fulfil a list of criteria set down by England Rugby Limited (ERL) and agreed with First Division Rugby (FDR), covering stadia, club administration and other key roles, community development programmes, ground tenure and ground moves, facilities, medical and safety, marketing, plans to increase attendances, adherence to the squad cap and playing and contractual commitments. The purpose of the minimum criteria is to set a standard for all clubs to operate by, which all will benefit from.

Any failure by a club in the Guinness Premiership to meet the minimum standards as determined by the ERL Board will be liable to sanction by the ERL Board.

The ERL Board will consider each case on its own merits. In the event of a club’s ground redevelopment or other circumstances, the ERL Board acting at its discretion may suspend the operation of certain minimum standards for a club for a finite period of time.

The entry criteria stipulated by ERL and Premier Rugby and agreed with FDR exist to ensure that clubs possess a structure capable of sustaining top flight professional rugby in England. They are also designed to deliver increasing standards for our supporters, players and partners, including the media.

Disciplinary process
Breaches of discipline in Guinness Premiership matches will be dealt with by the RFU disciplinary process. A full copy of the RFU disciplinary regulations is available on http://www.rfu.com/.

It is worth noting that the RFU differs from the IRB insofar as the RFU holds the player as innocent unless proven guilty on the balance of probabilities. The IRB holds the referee or citing officer as correct unless proved incorrect on balance of probabilities.

Breaches of discipline in Heineken Cup or European Shield matches are dealt with by ERC under the terms of their participation agreement with the Guinness Premiership clubs.

Promotion/relegation
Automatic promotion and relegation between the Guinness Premiership and National Division One is in place until June 2009 under the terms of the eight year Long Form Agreement (LFA) signed between the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Premier Rugby Ltd (PRL), and a second agreement between the RFU, PRL and First Division Rugby (FDR).

Promotion and relegation is, however, subject to the Minimum Standards Criteria being fulfilled by the club finishing top of National Division One, and is decided by the England Rugby Limited (ERL) Board.

No change can take place in these arrangements without the approval of all parties to the agreements during the term (up to June 2009) unless two thirds of the clubs in both PRL and FDR agree to a change.

Television Match Official (TMO)
TMOs are used at all of the Guinness Premiership matches broadcast live on Sky Sports. They can be requested to assist the referee in making the following decisions (and the following decisions only):

• Try
• No try and scrum awarded 5 metres
• Touch down by a defender
• In touch - line out
• Touch in-goal
• Ball dead on or over the dead ball line
• Penalty tries after acts of foul play in in-goal
• Dropped goal

Anti--doping education
Premier Rugby condemns doping, which is the illegal use of prohibited substances and methods, as prescribed by the World Anti-Doping Code (the Code) and Prohibited List (the List), to enhance performance. 

Doping is totally contrary to the spirit of rugby, the ethical concepts of sportsmanship and fair play and is potentially harmful to the health of players. The only legitimate use of drugs in rugby is under the supervision of a qualified physician for a clinically justified purpose.

Premier Rugby supports the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in the fight against doping, including supporting the implementation of a comprehensive and effective anti-doping programme of education, testing and results management aimed at deterring and detecting doping.

In 2007 and in partnership with UK Sport’s 100% ME campaign, the RFU implemented a world class anti-doping education strategy and programme aimed at creating a generation of players who have confidence in their ability to succeed without the use of performance enhancing substances and to create a sporting environment where doping is not tolerated.

Premier Rugby supports the RFU in achieving its education objectives, namely in providing relevant and up to date technical information to players to enable them to remain drug free and comply with the RFU’s anti-doping regulations.

Together Premier Rugby and the RFU have trained two (2) members of each Guinness Premiership club in the 100% ME Accredited Tutor Programme, ensuring players have access to and receive relevant and up to date anti-doping education and advice from suitably qualified support staff.

In season 2006/07 a total of 414 tests were carried out on rugby players in England under the RFU’s testing programme, with over 50% conducted out of competition with no advance notice. This type of testing is considered to be the most effective to deter and detect the use of prohibited substances.