The RFU is the richest union in world rugby, but it relies on its Twickenham internationals to bring in revenue. To put it in context three winter internationals at Twickenham will bring in between £15-18 million and that is where the revenue comes from. Every four years the finances take a massive hit because of the World Cup (when it is not held in England) and they don't have these winter internationals. The international rugby board pays 'compensation' but its only about £4million, it doesn't nearly cover what they would have got. Every four years their finances take a massive hit. After the last World Cup they made losses over over £6 million and they are projecting losses of over £10 million this year.

The England team and the branding of brand England are of crucial importance to the RFU which is why there is so much foot stomping over what went on at the World Cup, it is not just that they went out in the quarter finals, they can live with that, it's that the players were doing stupid stuff like jumping off boats and getting bladdered and Mike Tindall embarrassed the royal family, these are all things that tarnish the brand for the type of sponsors that the RFU wants to get on board.

Rugby union clubs lose money and are reliant on getting funding from the RFU so any hit to sponsorship will reverberate through the game. I know most league fans think that RU is a bottomless pit of money but it is not, RU might be richer than league but its finances are not particularly secure. The rich RU clubs are in France not England.

Also I think the NRL is going to be a bigger player in terms of taking top English league players than the RFU is, especially at the moment when England are struggling. There was an attraction for players like Jason Robinson and Henry Paul going to England RU ten years ago, because that was a team on a bandwagon bound for success in the next World Cup. League players that have had no success at international level in league, are not going to get success any time soon with England RU, they are well in the shadow of the All Blacks and Springboks.At the moment the Australian economy is booming, their exchange rate is strong and league is enjoying a boom time, so a league player wanting to get good money and raise his profile and get some celebrity, is probably worth going to the NRL like Ellis and Burgess have.

It was the same 6, 7 and 9 who played in the game at Wembley.

Watched a few highlights and I'm glad I chose to watch Everton and Federer instead.

Woeful game - a poor advert for any sport.

Made up fact...

Yes, point proved.

And whilst your here, who are these two World Cup Winners that Saints have signed for the 2012 season?