London Welsh eager to play in the Premiership – Rugby News Update
London Welsh, a club that plays in the Championship, the first tier of professional rugby in England, is eager to join the big teams in the Aviva Premiership, the top tier rugby league in the country.
London Welsh are currently playing a semi-final play-off against Bedford, beating the team 13-3 in the first leg, while the second leg will be played this Sunday. The Aviva Premiership has strict criteria for admittance into the top tier, with only Bristol
fulfilling the minimum requirements. However, Bristol is in a fix, losing the first leg off their semi-final play-off to the Cornish Pirate 45-24, and it is unlikely that they will be able to overturn the deficit.
Bleddyn Phillips, the Chairman of Welsh has said, "So far as London Welsh are concerned, we have cooperated fully with PMP Legacy, the consultants appointed by the RFU and Premiership Rugby, and have given them every assistance to conduct an audit on two
grounds we are considering for use next Season in the event we win the Championship."
Currently the chairman is in talks with various clubs to discuss the possibility of sharing venues to stage matches, as their current stadium falls way below the requirements. It is thought that the preferred option is to share the Harlequins stadium at
Twickenham Stoop.
"Welsh have also had discussions with two other clubs whose grounds it believes would already satisfy the MSC [minimum standards criteria] and would thus not require a technical audit (indeed these grounds have in the past Season hosted, for example, Premiership
and Heineken Cup games).”
If the Rugby Football Union grants London Welsh the permission to play in the Premiership, it would mean that Newcastle Falcons would be relegated into the Championship, having finished bottom on the league after 22 games. But Welsh are jumping the gun as
they still have to fulfil certain requirements.
However, there has been no approach by the PMP Legacy, the RFU or Premiership Rugby, which inherently means that their status is not confirmed even if they win the play-offs. They still have to go through an Audit process, and if they pass it, only then
they will be promoted.
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