London Welsh to contest decision soon – Rugby News Update
London Welsh, a club that plays in the Championship, the second tier of rugby in England have defeated the Cornish Pirates over a two-legged final to be declared champions.
However, they are not being allowed promotion into the Aviva Premiership, the top tier of rugby in England, as they do not fill the minimum requirement criteria. Their application to join the country’s elite was rejected by the Professional Game Board, a
decision that was upheld by the Rugby Football Union.
After securing the title, the club is keen to fight their case in order to secure their promotion into the top flight. They have a minimum of three months to know what tier they will be playing in, as the new season will start by then. It provides the club
a very small window of opportunity to take the matter to court or settle for an out of court settlement. London Welsh were waiting till the season concluded, and now that they have emerged winners, they are in a strong bargaining position.
Club chairman, Bleddyn Phillips, said, "We shall be lodging an appeal in the very near future and in parallel we are pursuing all other available opportunities to make sure we can take our rightful and deserved place in the Aviva Premiership."
John Taylor, the managing director of the club has said that the refusal of the RFU has brought the situation into a tipping point. He referenced the need of the RFU to make the Championship a professional body, and they need to support the lower league
teams, in order to create a culture where the teams have an opportunity to advance.
He said, "The feeling is that even if we were to be in a situation at the end of it for whatever reason we didn't win this appeal, and we are going to fight it very, very hard, things will never be the same again. They will not be prepared to go through
this again at the end of next season.”
It is going to be a long summer for London Welsh and they have to make important decisions regarding the future of the club.
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