Newly-elected Premier Rugby chairman Peter Tom has pledged his support to retaining promotion and relegation.

Tom, the Leicester chairman, succeeded Tom Walkinshaw as the head of the body which looks after the country's top 12 clubs in the Guinness Premiership.

And he maintains that promotion and relegation are integral to the game.

"At a chairmen's meeting in January, there was a vote where a substantial majority of clubs said we should retain promotion and relegation," he said.

"We've always said we were in favour of promotion and relegation and at the end of the day, as chairman of Premier Rugby I will be representing all of the clubs."

Walkinshaw was the chairman for the last four years and Tom has paid tribute to his leadership efforts.

He added: "We now have to build further on the success of the Guinness Premiership and European competitions to continue to offer top quality, fantastic value club rugby to our supporters and partners."

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