Dan Lyle (Bath captain)
I don't know if I necessarily believe what is coming out of Twickenham over the relegation issue. Maybe they will do an about-turn in July or August, just before next season starts, because they'll get so many scathing letters.
They don't seem to understand the professional game - they want to keep throwing things at it. Changing the thing mid-stride is a farce and, even though Rotherham staying down saves us from possible relegation, I don't like to get in through the back door. I've got a lot of pride and so have my team-mates.
The game's rulers really need to sort themselves out and not keep changing the system day after day. Rugby union is in its infancy as a professional sport and every time there is a fundamental problem we tend to over-complicate it.
As players you don't know what's going on. The owners and the RFU haven't been consistent. They're running the sport in a lop-sided way and they're taking a lot of the emotion out of the game because the season is a hotch-potch.
It's almost laughable. Each year you're caring less and less about playing the games because you're playing over too long a period. It is wholly unsustainable the way it is. Players and supporters need time to regather themselves. Guys don't even want to tour right now. No one really cares that Leicester won the league, even the guys at Leicester.
To improve things they need to do away with relegation, promote a number of teams over the next few years, introduce a conference system and thus lower the number of games we play. To encourage radical growth and really get a professional league kick-started, you're going to have to limit the number of games, make each one a super-hyped event and put some positive spin on it.
To make it happen it's up to people like Martin Johnson and Lawrence Dallaglio, the guys who are getting all the money out of the game, to step up - not for themselves but for everyone else - and say: "Too much, we can't sustain this." It's easy for them to say "I don't want to tour" or "I can't play in this game" but everyone else has to do exactly what his coaches or owners tell him or he'll lose his job.
We [the Professional Rugby Players' Association] are also going to put together a medical questionnaire for every player to find out the true state of health of Premiership players. That'll give the players a lot of power. It needs to happen and it's something England Rugby Ltd should undertake so they can make rational decisions. England have also got to take a look at how many foreigners they want in their league. In a way promotion and relegation are side issues.
Chris Johnson (Rotherham captain)
It is bad enough being denied our rightful position in the Premiership, even worse when the reason given is palpably false.
I have seen the three-year agreement we have to play at Millmoor [Rotherham United's ground]. What I and everyone involved in our club wants to know is the real reason behind the decision [officially given as the lack of proof of a ground-sharing deal with Rotherham United].
It just seems that obstacles are being put in our way and we feel cheated. We were told that our Clifton Lane ground had failed the criteria but the auditors did not even inspect it: they spent three hours at Millmoor.
The suggestion that we did not want to go up could not be more wrong. Anyone who thinks that should come to our first training session for the new season next month and say as much to the players and supporters.
When we were relegated last year we looked at ourselves individually and collectively and vowed we would be back. And we should be, having broken records galore this season only to be robbed of what is ours. I have to pick up the players and what do I say if they ask me what happens if we finish first again next season?
Tim Horan (Saracens player-coach)
I've found myself in unknown territory here. In Super 12 the dozen teams were not threatened by relegation, so the whole notion of promotion and relegation is new to me.
My solution is to have a play-off at the end of each season, home and away, between top of the first division and bottom of the Premiership. That way a club would have to prove itself worthy of promotion. I know the Rotherham players won't agree but the club will probably be quietly happy about not going up and it could be a blessing in disguise for them.
Of course their players want the opportunity of appearing in the top division but the club could probably use another year or two to prepare. There may be an outcry about this but there have to be rules and regulations about being in the Premiership.
As far as this weekend's game is concerned it's still massive for us. There's no complacency - quite the opposite, in fact, as Wayne Shelford has been coaching the side this week and the players will be keen to impress him.
We've had a disappointing run since Christmas and we owe it to our supporters to end on a winning note. Pride is at stake even if the result does not matter as much as it might have done a few days ago.
Keith Wood (Harlequins captain)
Up until Thursday this seemed like a conspiracy but it now appears it was basically Rotherham's fault.
What I do know is that the pressure we've been under since Christmas has been bloody awful; there's no way supporters have been short-changed.
The nerves before our game against Leeds last week were huge; it was one of the hardest weeks I've ever experienced.
We all felt our futures were at stake and it had got to the point where I had phoned the Ireland coach, Eddie O'Sullivan, to see if it was okay for me to play in the First Division. Why would I be doing that if we weren't in genuine trouble? In the end, thankfully, we got ourselves out of it.
I've always been anti-relegation, although I might perform an about-turn now we're safe. It's hard to take a punt on young English players if playing them, rather than hiring expensive imports, means you end up being relegated.
No one criticises the Super 12 because they don't have relegation. I think everyone agrees we still haven't got our game in order and next year, to make matters worse, there are internationals all over the place.
Scott Benton (Leeds)
As a Yorkshireman I do feel a bit sorry for Rotherham. They have proved themselves the best team in that league but they knew the criteria for promotion and they haven't fulfilled them.
We had suspected this might happen but there's no getting away from the fact it is a big relief. I'd be lying, and so would the Bath and Saracens lads, if I said it wasn't. But we've still got a lot to play for. We can still finish 10th and we want to stay up on merit.
We'll be playing for pride and looking forward to next season. We've proved by winning six games this year that we can match the bigger clubs and we can only get stronger and better. We'll use this as a springboard.
The longer-term future? There's no doubt there is a big gap between the Premiership and the First Division, so maybe a play-off might work. Otherwise I'm in favour of the league staying in its present form, provided it's run properly and they look after the players fixture-wise. It's a superb league and there's some great rugby being played but they've got to make sure the players aren't fatigued or burnt out.
