‘Players wonder whether it’s all worth it’: life in rugby union’s Championship

The cautionary tale of the former Bedford Blues and Canada back-row Justin Blanchet reveals the reality of players’ lives in the second tier even before the RFU cuts funding next seasonAs Saracens will discover when they drop into the Championship next season, there are two types of professional rugby player: the haves and the have-nots. The gap between the Premiership and Championship was wide enough already before the Rugby Football Union turned it into a chasm with Wednesday’s announcement that funding to the second tier would be slashed from next season. Life was already hard for players a…