Sale chief executive Sid Sutton has called for independent governance after the demise of Wasps and Worcester.

Questions are now being asked about the financial viability of the club game in England and how it can thrive.

At the moment clubs are reliant on wealthy benefactors to prop them up, with businessmen Simon Orange and Ged Mason in charge at Sale.

For Sutton, the game has to move away from that to survive. He advocates an independent body stepping in to get away from any self-interests that can be detrimental to the sport.

'We need more collaboration'

"The owners are very passionate and their intent is extremely well recognised and appreciated, but we have to learn to stand on our own two feet," he told BBC North West Tonight.

"I think there has to be more collaboration in the game from the RFU [Rugby Football Union] and PRL [Premiership Rugby Limited]. We have to stop pointing the finger and take responsibility for our own clubs.

"We need more collaboration and more sharing and then finally, there's lots of details below this, we have to take independent governance on the bigger decisions in the game.

"We can't just be governed by a group of people who've got self-interest in their own clubs - which is not a judgement in any way.

"We've got to have some sort of independent governance to drive the bigger decisions for the game of rugby, to allow it to modernise, generate more income, generate bigger fan engagement and move the game forward.

"For every 100 conversations I've had about modernising the game, 99 of those are about history and what we have or haven't done in the past.

"Let's forget that, learn from the past, but get this independent governance in the game and move forwards."

As part of the wider rugby family, Sutton was shocked by what has happened to Wasps and Worcester.

Rumours are rife about other Premiership clubs that have financial problems, which have been exacerbated over the last few years by the impact of Covid and then with matches being played behind closed doors.

However, the Sharks CEO, who has been in his post since 2020, says Sale are in a solid place.

"We've all got our heads down, concentrating on our clubs but when any club or entity goes into administration or liquidation, it is a shock," he added.

"You've got friends at these clubs as well so it really hits home. I don't think anybody could see this coming. I don't foresee anybody knowing those two clubs would go into administration or the depths of that this year.

"We're relatively good. We've kept hold of our CVC money. We've invested that wisely, we've still got a lot of that money behind us.

"We've also got the commitment of the present owners. They're fully committed to the club and ensuring we can go on from success to success."

'We have to build a crowd'

On the pitch and away from the negative headlines that have surrounded the club game, Sale have made an outstanding start to the season.

With five wins out of five they are just a point behind leaders Saracens, but one of the biggest challenges facing Sale is attracting more fans to watch them.

They have averaged just 5,285 for the first three home matches in the Premiership, with only Newcastle Falcons attracting fewer spectators so far, though they expect about 7,000 fans for Sunday's visit of Harlequins.

And Sutton believes that if Sale can bring more people into the ground, the future is bright.

"Our situation is healthy," he says. "But we have to build a crowd.

"It's healthy because we've got money behind us and we've got generous owners, but we have to make sure we are generating more cash and more opportunity and filling the stadium, so we're less reliant on owners' money. That's the reality of the situation.

"We can start to fill our stadium and therefore we start to make money, whereas other clubs are filling their stadiums and they're still breaking even or losing money.

"There's a huge opportunity here to build the crowds, the brand and then the revenue."