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Damning 52-word 'darkest day for English rugby' Steve Diamond post
By Liam Heagney
Worcester boss Steve Diamond has branded Wednesday, October 5, as the darkest day for English rugby. The Warriors director of rugby took to social media after it was decided at an Insolvency and Companies Court hearing to make an order winding up WRFC Players Ltd, the company that held player and some staff contracts at the club.
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Because they had not been paid for September, all players were able to leave on October 14 but this midweek liquidation has now brought their departure forward by nine days.
Club captain Ted Hill, Ollie Lawrence, Fergus Lee-Warner and Valeriy Morozov had already joined Bath on loan on Monday, a development that Diamond thanked Johann van Graan’s club earlier this week.
At the time there would still have been a sliver of hope that the currently suspended Worcester could somehow get taken over and be able to fulfil its October 22 fixture at Ashton Gate versus Bristol. However, that is now unlikely and the expectation is that the RFU will prevent the Warriors from playing again in 2022/23 due to its catastrophic financial situation.
With four players already on loan, the expectation following Wednesday’s court decision is that others will now follow them out of the Worcester door having become unemployed along with members of staff – including Diamond.
#TOGETHER “This is the darkestday for English rugby. We thought we could turn the tanker around but it’s ended up like the Titanic, sadly. The ship has sunk, the captains are nowhere to be seen. The RFU/PRL band played in the back ground. There are a privileged few who have jobs.
— Steve Diamond (@Steve_Dimes) October 5, 2022
The ex-Sale boss only linked up with the club last November as lead rugby consultant before taking charge of the team in January following the departure of head coach Jonathan Thomas. He then succeeded Alan Solomons as the director of rugby in the off-season but his tenure has been short-lived with Worcester now having been court sanctioned.
Diamond took to Twitter to express his feelings, writing: “#TOGETHER. “This is the darkest day for English rugby. We thought we could turn the tanker around but it’s ended up like the Titanic, sadly. The ship has sunk, the captains are nowhere to be seen. The RFU/PRL band played in the background. There are a privileged few who have jobs.”
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Skipper Hill has also vented his feelings, writing: “What an unbelievably sad day for everyone in Worcester. A club that meant so much to everyone has gone the direction none of us wanted it to.”
