Prem Rugby semi-final changes: Exeter’s Tony Rowe unhappy at plans

Exeter have played in seven semi-finals, hosting six of them.

They beat Bath in their first-ever away semi-final last month in a dramatic encounter at The Rec, becoming the first third-placed team to reach the final at Twickenham.

Those behind the plans hope that matches at larger capacity venues can grow the games both commercially and in terms of popularity.

But it is estimated clubs currently make between £600,000-£750,000 when hosting a play-off at their home ground, while there are also concerns the lack of home advantage might disincentivise clubs towards end of the season if there is no tangible benefit for finishing in the top two.

“I’ll be really interested because we will be at that semi-final, wherever it is, but I’ll be really interested to see whether the supporters turn out – I don’t think they will,” added Rowe, who has seen his club taken over by American investors this week.

“The way the whole thing is structured is that financially you want to be in first or second place in the Premiership because you get the home semi – well they’ve taken that away and it’s still not clear to me how much financial reward clubs are going to get for finishing there.”