His proposal would involve creating more formal partnerships between Premiership and Championship clubs along the lines of the relationship that Saracens enjoy with Bedford Blues.

England stars Owen Farrell and George Kruis are among players who Saracens have sent to Bedford. Their current batch includes prop Billy Walker and wing Matt Gallagher, who were part of the England side who won the World Under-20 Championship this summer. Other clubs do employ a dual-registration system but on a far more ad hoc basis.

Under Melville’s scheme, up to eight academy players, whether from one or multiple clubs, would be sent to each Championship side with the Premiership team subsidising their wages. The advantage for Premiership teams would be that their youngsters would start gaining the game time necessary to accelerate their development. Championship clubs, meanwhile, would be able to make considerable financial savings by maintaining smaller squads while gaining access to some of English rugby’s brightest talents.