Things are getting better

BBC Sport Online columnist Matt Dawson believes rugby union is in the rudest of health

With the new season upon us the future of English rugby looks very positive with gates getting bigger and the game getting more exciting to watch.

Let's hope this season will be as fantastic as the last twelve months were; the England team looked so good and at club level Leicester spectacularly flew the flag in Europe.

The way the clubs and the Rugby Football Union got together to form England Rugby Ltd during the summer means that the game is starting to move in the right direction.

Above all we are all singing from the same hymn sheet.

The clubs and the RFU understand that there is a huge amount of money and sponsorship that is available to promote the game.

Small print

The financial cake is also being evenly split which is the right way to go forward.

It is important that everyone does well out of the game - the sponsors, the kids, the players, the unions, the clubs and the owners.

What they don't put in the small print is that the players are only earning good money for a very short time

Matt Dawson

We're six years down the professional road and in another six years we could well be on the way to becoming as successful as professional football.

People think that the players are on huge amounts of money and that they are all millionaires, but that's absolute rubbish.

We earn good money, but look at what we are doing.

Ask a top barrister what they are earning and they will say good money, so why should rugby union players be any different?

A lot of the press coverage about players' wages is inflated and what they don't put in the small print is that the players are only earning good money for a very short time.

If you are a player where do you go once you get to the age of 30?

You have to go out in to the big wide world and find a nine-to-five job.

Yes being a professional rugby union player is good while it lasts, but it is not a job that lasts for ever.

I certainly don't think the fans resent what the players are earning - they wouldn't be coming to the games if they they thought we were overpaid or they didn't like us.

That's why I don't begrudge any sportsman the money that they earn, whether it's a millionaire football player or someone like Steve Redgrave, who is only now reaping the rewards of winning all those gold medals.

Burn-out

The formation of England Rugby Ltd is also positive in what it means for the number of games that players are expected to play.

Leicester likely to dominate domestically

Players, with the eleven week break over the summer months, realise that they are not going to suffer burn-out.

Whereas before they might have only envisaged a career in the top flight lasting four or five years, they looking at least seven or eight years now.

Leicester have led in the way in this area.

Last season even when Leicester had England internationals available to them the club chose to rest them.

Everybody said what the heck were they doing but it meant that they had the right players playing at the right time for the key games.

Good vibes

As for the runners and riders in the Zurich Premiership for the new season it's only a fool that would bet against Leicester again.

They have put out all the usual signs that they haven't got key players, that they've lost Pat Howard and all the rest of it, but I don't believe a word of it.

With the likes of Josh Kronfeld and Rod Kafer and the skills of Austin Healey allied to the depth of squad that they have and they look very strong again.

As for the other top four challengers I can see Northampton up there as well as Bath and Harlequins.

I have heard nothing but good vibes coming out of the Harlequins camp.

It is apparently a happy place to be, which is dangerous, because that's what they have lacked over the last few years - team spirit.