R360: Where’s next in the rugby civil war after rookie league test ban hits?

“I think the battle lines have been drawn publicly and everyone knows where the unions stand,” says sports attorney Ben Cisneros of Morgan Sports Law.

“The main thing everyone is after is a clearer understanding of what the competition looks like and what the future holds.

“If players are going to enter into new contracts with clubs within this new entity, there will need to be a number of guarantees that they will want to have on the viability of the competition, whether it will actually happen, the opportunity to play and get paid, and of course to have guarantees on matters such as player welfare issues around anti-doping and so on.

“I think all parties are right to raise these questions, including the unions. They have identified that there is a lack of detail.”

The ban on players representing their country and playing for R360 is one obvious detail, but can this be challenged?

“What the European courts have said is that if you have rules about whether new competitions will be sanctioned and whether players can participate in them while remaining part of the ecosystem, they must be clear, objective, transparent, proportionate and non-discriminatory,” Cisneros said.

“This is something lawyers will scrutinize, and whether any potential competition law case can be justified is another thorny issue.

“Recent rulings have signaled a tightening and application of a more traditional approach to sport from a competition law perspective.

“So, if the rules or the lack of them turn out to be problematic from a competition law perspective, it may be very difficult for administrative bodies to justify a ban.

“It would not be outside the realm of possibility for the rugby team to take legal action.”

A comment below Mitchell’s post on LinkedIn suggested the same thing.

Mitchell responded with a mystery emoji.