R360: Sale co-owner Michel Orange warns about the effects of a startup event

“We’re certainly not going to keep investing all this money into building a track, only to have Mike Tindall every three or four years … scrape the cream off the top of the milk again.

“I’m not saying curry boys [Sale and England flankers Tom and Ben] They’ll go to 360 – I’m just using them as an example – but if they go, by the time they retire, Mike Tyndall will need to replace them and still expect me to replace them within my team.

“Most clubs are backed by wealthy individuals who love the sport, want to do their bit for the sport, but are certainly not that stupid to keep investing money to create a Simul R360 conveyor belt and receive no compensation for it.”

Organizers of R360 claim it will soon become profitable, attracting fans who watch Test rugby but do not follow the club’s current match, as well as attracting new fans.

The club believes that its attraction of foreign stars is no different from the type of policy followed by first-class clubs in Japan.

All Blacks player Richie Monga and two-time South African World Player of the Year Peter-Steph du Toit are among those attracted to Japan Rugby League One because of the high wages and low workload.

However, publicly at least, R360 has yet to make much progress in building its roster.

Sale’s George Ford and Northampton’s Finn Smith have renewed their contracts with the club amid a R360 benefit, while stars Finn Russell and Antoine Dupont have extended their deals with Bath and Toulouse respectively.