England centre's cryptic Tweet suggests Worcester situation worsening

A rather cryptic Tweet from England centre Ollie Lawrence suggests that things at under pressure Worcester Warriors are heading south rapidly.

Worcester appears to be on the brink of administration after HM Revenue and Customs hit them with a winding up petition last week due to unpaid tax debts.

The RFU may ultimately bail out the side with a cash injection but whatever happens, the situation is dire for the Gallagher Premiership side.

Players are reported to have had a meeting with management this morning and from the looks of a Tweet from England centre Ollie Lawrence, things didn’t go well.

Lawrence Tweeted a cowboy emoji, which lead many to believe he was having a pop at the financial management of the side.

?’s

— Ollie Lawrence (@OLawrence1) August 22, 2022

According to Worcester News’ sports editor Marcello Cossali-Francis a further crunch meeting is taking place this morning.

Have to say that whilst the lack of comms from the club is infuriating, the HMRC issue means the media team are off work.

Still awaiting updates but Ollie Lawrence’s tweet suggests the players are now fully aware of the situation & maybe not best pleased with it.

— Marcello Cossali-Francis (@Mcossalifrancis) August 22, 2022

Worcester Warriors are facing a 35-point Premiership sanction for entering administration. RugbyPass understands that Rugby Football Union could opt to waive any action by using a “no fault” clause that includes the impact of a pandemic.

Last week the side said their directors are in “continuing dialogue” with HMRC.

“Worcester, along with many other businesses and most sports clubs, have found the past two years extremely challenging owing to the Covid-19 pandemic and the rise in the cost of living,” Worcester said in a statement.

“We retained our staff but lost income during the various lockdowns, during which the overwhelming majority of matches were played behind closed doors.”

English rugby top clubs are to receive a much-needed £20m cash injection this season thanks to their eight year funding deal with the RFU but it will only be a temporary relief for Worcester.

Under the current Professional Game Agreement, signed in 2016 between Premiership Rugby Limited (PRL) and the RFU, clubs are guaranteed funding from the union each season. For the first four, they received a fixed amount of £25.5m, however, the pandemic had a devastating effect on income which is largely based on RFU revenue from Twickenham matches. As a result of internationals having to be played without crowds, the clubs received less than £10m last year as the Union suffered a loss of more than £20m.