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It's emotive but Wasps, Worcester, Irish deserve a route back – Andy Goode
By Andy Goode
You would need to have a heart of stone to actively want Wasps, Worcester and London Irish to remain sunk without a trace, but the RFU have to be transparent about the criteria surrounding their potential return to the Championship.
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All three of the clubs that hit the rocks in the Gallagher Premiership in 2022/23 have submitted an application to compete in a revamped second-tier next season and that would be great for the game if the process is fair and the details are made public.
It is an emotive issue and I understand there will be those of a London Welsh persuasion who will point to what happened to them in 2017 and cry foul, but the landscape was very different back then and each case has to be judged on its own merits.
Wasps, Worcester and London Irish all went under because of mismanagement, albeit to differing degrees, but all were obviously affected by a global pandemic and circumstances that weren’t an issue for London Welsh seven years ago. So, I’m all for an olive branch being extended to the trio who suffered recently, only if they fulfil some fairly stringent conditions which ensure history doesn’t repeat itself and they are sustainable in the future though.
There aren’t enough clubs in the English game capable of making their way to the top so it would be counter-productive to make it inordinately difficult for these ones to do so, but they have to prove how they are planning to do so and that process must be transparent.
You might have to go back a bit further but there are some famous names below the Championship, the likes of Richmond, Esher, Rotherham, Blackheath, Birmingham Moseley, Rosslyn Park, Sedgley Park and Darlington Mowden Park all currently battling it out in National League 1 for example.
I played against Esher, Moseley and Rotherham in the Championship so you don’t have to be a complete dinosaur to remember them being higher up the pyramid. Not many will have the means and ambition to make it to the Premiership now but they deserve to know what the lay of the land is for Wasps, Worcester and London Irish.
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It’s in our DNA in England to be in favour of promotion and relegation – and I certainly am – but that has to be combined with a business element nowadays whether we like it or not. That is all we are talking about with regard to the make-up of Tier 2 moving forwards.
The plan is for a 14-team league next season, expanding from the current 12 sides, and I don’t think that is too many. It works for the Top 14 and Pro D2 even has 16 teams, which could be the case in the Championship in the future. There is no reason that can’t work from a business point of view and player welfare should always be paramount, but a 26-game season won’t be any different to the number of games played at the top level when you take into account Champions Cup and international matches.
The legal and ethical details surrounding the potential return of Wasps, Worcester and London Irish are a matter for the RFU but I do think their rugby creditors should be paid before any comeback. You see it in business all the time where firms fold and come back in a different guise soon afterwards, leaving others out of pocket, and it wouldn’t sit right if that were to happen in rugby but thankfully that is for somebody far more senior than me to oversee.
There is also the issue that Wasps and Worcester are currently both owned by Chris Holland. I know Holland from my time at Wasps and I’m certain his motives and intentions for both clubs are the right ones, but whether he can own two teams in the same division is questionable.
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No club should be able to waltz back in on its name and history alone but we don’t want to see these institutions with such great tradition and importance to so many people die out and remain gone forever. I accept that I’m biased because I played for Wasps and Worcester but I genuinely believe that if you are just dead set against them returning at this level no matter what, then you don’t have a heart for rugby.
They have added so much value over the years and they deserve a realistic route back. As always, the devil is in the detail and the criteria and process has to be transparent for all other clubs and fans to see. They all face a huge race against time if they want to stand a chance of competing in Tier 2 in 2025/26, of course, with eight or nine months until the start of pre-season and no players currently on their books on top of all the off-field issues.
That may come too soon for one, two or all of them but I’m on board with offering them the opportunity to make it happen. It’s over to the RFU and Bill Sweeney to ensure the process is transparent and fair for all involved.
Then I must have the heart of a boulder because I detest the idea that these clubs can parachute into the Championship without earning the right by starting at the bottom like many of the current clubs in the Championship who have played hard to get where they are today. What about all of the other famous clubs that had to start at the bottom? Why not add them to the championship too if they can find wealthy backers and of course don't forget the possibility of the Welsh teams joining. I have been a rugby union fan for over 40 years but I am losing interest both internationally (top tier) and domestically nowadays and I am more interested in the tier 2/3 internationals but for how long I don't know before the minor nations die out. So if the likes of Wasps and Worcester rejoin the championship instead of earning their place I think my love of the sport will also die out. I don't believe that there will be Rugby Union in ten years from now.
The key to this is the ownership model, financial structure and future controls to prevent repetition. Not to mention ensuring that at the very least, rugby creditors are paid in full. You would need to be mad to trust the rfu to do the right thing here and they’re unlikely to do anything other than serve their own best short term interests.
Cannot agree I'm afraid Andy. This is a sea change for English rugby, going from clubs to franchises and the process is far from transparent. The RFU will not apply the entry criteria fairly and the chances of the rugby creditors getting paid in full are slim. I hope I am wrong, but I fear not.