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Gallagher Premiership

The emotional reaction on Twitter after suspension of London Irish

(Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)

Tuesday evening’s demise of London Irish generated an avalanche of sympathy on Twitter, ranging from fellow Gallagher Premiership clubs, former internationals, former players, numerous broadcasters and even the ex-kitman at Wasps – another of the top-flight clubs to collapse since last September.

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It was shortly after 7pm when the RFU confirmed its decision to suspend London Irish from the 2023/24 Premiership, adding that they would not be permitted to play in any of its leagues following a failed American-led takeover bid and the unwillingness of the current owner Mick Crossan to continue to fund the club.

With London Irish players and staff having received only 50 per cent of their salaries in last week’s May payroll, a collective RFU, Premiership Rugby and RPA hardship fund has now been established to help those worst affected.

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In the meantime, social media went into overdrive with a wide spectrum of people reacting to the Exiles falling out of the Premiership just months after Wasps and Worcester also fell by the wayside.

Former England international Tom May immediately reached out to those left in limbo by the club.

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London Irish issue 72-word statement on its Premiership suspension

London Irish have issued a 72-word statement in response to Tuesday evening’s announcement that the RFU had suspended the club from taking part in next season’s Gallagher Premiership.

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“Any London Irish players needing to look at opportunities outside of professional sport, please do get in touch,” he wrote. “FutureProof Pro have roles for athletes and is set up to help you. Please let any players know about this. It’ll make a big difference to some.”

Local rivals Harlequins, whose fixtures with London Irish have produced some cracking post-pandemic entertainment, commented: “Our sincere sympathies and best wishes to the players, coaches, supporters and all connected to London Irish at this incredibly difficult time.

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“Harlequins will now work closely with Premiership Rugby, The RFU and all key stakeholders to understand the implications of the suspension on the upcoming season and will be in contact with our supporters with further detail, including the club’s action plan.”

Quoting his own club’s tweet which stated: “Gloucester Rugby would like to express our sadness following the news of London Irish’s suspension from the Gallagher Premiership. Our thoughts are with the fans, staff and players,” Kingsholm CEO Lance Bradley said: “We are thinking of our many friends at London Irish this evening, and of course their fans and everyone else connected with the club.”

Andy Goode, the ex-England out-half and current media pundit, added: “Thoughts with every player, member of staff and fan of London Irish tonight. Such sad news to hear of the suspension from the leagues. Mismanagement and poor running of businesses across the league to blame.”

Fellow broadcaster Sonja McLaughlan said: “Always jumped at the chance to do a game at London Irish. A style of rugby that warmed the soul. Feel desperate for Declan Kidney, Les Kiss and everyone connected with the club. How ironic they had just finished as best of the rest in the league and now this. It’s a mess.”

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Next up, Alex Corbisiero, the club’s former Test-level prop. “Heartbroken for London Irish, thinking of all the players, staff and fans right now.”

The club’s Irish origins were recognised in a tweet from Rugby Players’ Ireland, who posted its message with a splendid picture of the late Gary Halpin in action in a 1990s London Irish jersey. “A home from home. Thinking of all those connected with London Irish – a great home for many an Irish player over the years. Hopefully, they can find a way out.”

Ex-Wasps kitman Pudsey Bevan wrote: “232 days ago this happened to me and 166 of my friends. I’m still not over it but if I can help anyone from London Irish, please get in touch.”

Scott Steele, the former Scotland scrum-half who spent six seasons at London Irish, stated: “Heartbreaking news. Thoughts go out to everyone involved with London Irish. Great club but more importantly great people.”

Broadcaster Sarra Elgan Easterby said: “Another sad day… Words are hard to find, and obviously not for the first time this season. Thoughts with all London Irish players, staff and fans.”

Stuart Barnes, another ex-Egland No10 who now also works in the media, wrote: “Feeling glum at London Irish news. A great old club I enjoyed playing against that is yet another subsumed despite doing so well on the pitch and with their academies.”

Journalist Neil Fissler reckoned: “Seems like London Irish players and staff were the subject of lies and p*** taking until the very end. Feel for them. Hopefully, they find clubs and new jobs ASAP.”

Fellow journalist Ashleigh Wilmost added: “Very, very sad news for London Irish today. It’s a brilliant club and truly heartbreaking to see another club’s financial failings lead to suspension from the Premiership. My thoughts are with everyone affected by the news: players, staff, volunteers and their wonderful fans.”

The final word goes to Gonzalo Tiesi, the retired Argentine player. “So sad news. London Irish gave me the chance to become a professional back in 2006. Great club, great people and better memories. Hope things can get sorted in the near future. In the meantime a big hug to all the London Irish community!”

https://twitter.com/Sonjamclaughlan/status/1666166573202014209

https://twitter.com/neilfissler/status/1666148900288200715

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Comments

1 Comment
A
Alex 533 days ago

Really hope the 3 fallen clubs come back as phoenix clubs in whatever the new model may be. I know the plan is 10 & 10 right now, honestly think that may be too many. Ten team Premiership, eight team Championship.

I'd say however, the Prem needs to be ring-fenced for at least the next 3 seasons, if not 5 though. Need to protect the 10 remaining, that's just reality.

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Comments on RugbyPass

R
Reader76 19 minutes ago
Let's be real about these All Blacks

"they [All Blacks] are nuggety and resourceful and don’t wilt. They are prepared to win the hard way, accumulating points by any means necessary."


Sounds like you're describing your arch-nemesis Ben 😁

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C
CM 22 minutes ago
'Steve Borthwick hung his troops out to dry - he should take some blame'

This article only shows a part of SBs failings as England Coach. Firstly his reputation st Leicester was false, his SA and Welsh players won the matches not his coaching prowess. He has Wigglesworth as attack coach, someone who rarely attacked when playing. His player selection is awful, ignoring form players and sticking with failed internationals. He picks players that he knows and will be easy to manage for him. What on earth is Slade doing when even for Exeter he does not make line breaks with steppping, pace or guile, why on earth are Cole,George,Steward,Ford,Iseweke and a few other anywhere near the Team. Borthwick is awful as Head Coach of England.

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M
Mzilikazi 23 minutes ago
Key Wallabies trio running hot a year after being left in cold

Good to be writing about a WB team that has beaten two 6 N sides in successive weeks, Brett.


Lolesio indeed is looking very comfortable under Schmidt coaching. He must feel as confident now as he was feeling in his spell at Toulon last year. It will be interesting to see how he does against Finn Russell.

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J
J Marc 46 minutes ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Your unterstanding of the relation FFR LNR, is far better than the one in the article. For Meafou, there is an article on Skelton saying he is totally indispensable in the australian game.

In France they are often compared, and french game is often, but not always ,based on this kind of number 5. But , there are a lot of kind of play in France and in the world, and it's a blessing, because otherwise, the game would be boring.

On my other post ,which you replied, my intention was to explain with some historics facts the main importance, in France, of the championship.

But ,once again, I would prefer 3 games in NZ , with the better french players.

287 Go to comments
N
Ninjin 1 hour ago
Let's be real about these All Blacks

I said before the November tests that the AB's should go smash some Nh teams to find their feet and it seems that is just what they did bar France. Could have should have always sucks. Better to look to the future.

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O
OJohn 1 hour ago
David Campese takes back his Joe Schmidt coaching Australia criticism

And there it is, the game just given away. Thanks.

18 Go to comments
O
OJohn 1 hour ago
David Campese takes back his Joe Schmidt coaching Australia criticism

The nationality of the coach is important to kiwis and south africans and the french.

Not coincidentally the teams in world rugby who play with the most passion.

Why is it not allowed to be important for Australians ?

18 Go to comments
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Oh no, not him again? 1 hour ago
Tyrone Green decision has huge bearing on his international future

He'd make a great John C Reilly impersonator though. Someone call his agent. 🙃

2 Go to comments
O
OM 2 hours ago
Let's be real about these All Blacks

On behalf of New Zealand, I apologise for Ben Smith.

20 Go to comments
M
Mitch 3 hours ago
David Campese takes back his Joe Schmidt coaching Australia criticism

No doubt they liked Rennie but a 38% win record is hard to defend.

18 Go to comments
R
Red and White Dynamight 3 hours ago
Pablo Matera returns from ban as Argentina change 3 for Ireland

Incorrect. Matera plays mostly on blindside incl for Crusaders when they won title in 2022. Pumas tend to play their flankers left and right rather than 6/7 but Matera is involved in set pieces mostly on blindside channel.

3 Go to comments
C
Cantab 3 hours ago
Let's be real about these All Blacks

It is true that some of the ABs losses were unlucky but it must also be conceded that some of their wins were equally fortuitous and even out overall. I firmly believe that provided the team takes stock of their shortcomings and remedy them while building on the positive, they will return to being the juggernaut of past glories. They are not that far off and Razor has largely developed a side which is capable of not only winning a world cup but returning to the top of world rankings. Boks beware as uneasy the head that wears the crown.

20 Go to comments
D
DrinkAwayTheConcussion 3 hours ago
Sadness pervades as Gatland stands on the brink of Welsh exit

As if we’d let such an obvious double agent ploy work on us lol.

Tell me, who was just appointed head coach of Australia’s Men’s 7s…???

15 Go to comments
P
PA 3 hours ago
David Campese takes back his Joe Schmidt coaching Australia criticism

Campo , why don't you try Coaching?

Give Schmidt a chance to prove himself. Schmidt is a professional Coach who has done the hard yards. Give him the opportunity to prove himself. At present he's on the right track and getting better all the time. Don't bring the fact that he's a Kiwi, that's irrelevant. What's relevant is getting the best performance and results for rugby and Australia.

18 Go to comments
D
DrinkAwayTheConcussion 3 hours ago
David Campese takes back his Joe Schmidt coaching Australia criticism

None. Aussie coaches suck. But who are the 6 Australians better than Schmidtoh?

18 Go to comments
J
Jen 3 hours ago
Let's be real about these All Blacks

You Bok fans must get sick of reading this stuff, honestly. They're a great team. Our ABs just need to play better and take the ref out of the equation.

20 Go to comments
J
Jen 3 hours ago
Let's be real about these All Blacks

Our rivalry with the Boks is special. I can live with getting smashed by an excellent SA side. NOONE ELSE THOUGH. Losing to Engerland is not okay.

20 Go to comments
J
JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

PS, the only thing I could find on SA contractual changes was a while ago. I'm sure I was reading something more recent that was saying SARU are only involved with their PONI players. And as per above, 'private' doesn't mean billionaire owners in my book, just independant.

287 Go to comments
J
JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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L
Longshanks 4 hours ago
The Wallabies have a serious problem

No love for Ollie Hoskins? Decent Aussie tighthead playing for Saracens

11 Go to comments
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