Worcester face suspension from league at 12 noon over financial woes September 15, 2022 Worcester Warriors have been handed a deadline of noon today by the Rugby Football Union to prove they have sufficient funds to stage matches safely – or face suspension from all men’s and women’s competitions. The troubled Premiership club could be thrown out of the English top flight and other competitions as a result of [...]
Rugby’s shadow expeditions: The second string sides heading on tour September 15, 2022 Rugby is set in its traditions, rightly and wrongly, and it takes an enormous shift in will for anything new to seep into the sport. But when Irish province and last year’s losing European finalists Leinster announced earlier this week that they would be playing a fixture against an All Blacks XV during November, it [...]
Premiership sees opening-round attendances fall to a six-season low September 13, 2022 Premiership rugby’s opening-round attendances have fallen to a five-season low. Since the start of the 2016-17 season, and not including the pandemic-affected 2020-21 season, the percentage of seats filled by punters in England’s top division during the first round has never been lower than last weekend. The opening round saw 59 per cent of seats [...]
Ed Warner: Kicked off, tipped off, switched off September 8, 2022 One of the joys of writing Sport inc. is the flow of suggestions from readers of subjects to cover. In the past week alone: the highly leveraged balance sheets of Premiership rugby clubs ahead of the new season, the continuing scandal of the lack of financial support for Britain’s international basketball teams, the prohibitive cost [...]
Phil Dowson: ‘Academy players will always be key to Northampton Saints’ September 7, 2022 Northampton Saints’ incoming director of rugby Phil Dowson has stressed the importance of his club continuing to be a side with a core of local players as the former back row gets set for his first season in charge of the east midlands club. Dowson takes over the top spot from Chris Boyd, who is [...]
Agustin Creevy: ‘I love London Irish. Why can’t we be champions?’ September 6, 2022 Veteran Argentina and London Irish hooker Agustin Creevy is heading into his third year with Premiership club London Irish and there’s little sign of the front rower wanting to turn his back on the Exiles just yet. Joining ahead of the 2020-21 season, Creevy arrived in time for the transition from Reading to Brentford and [...]
Premiership Rugby chief says Worcester aren’t out of the woods yet September 1, 2022 Premiership Rugby chief executive Simon Massie-Taylor insists troubled club Worcester Warriors will take their place alongside the other 12 teams in this year’s league next week but warned that doubts remain over their future. Speaking at the launch of the season at Twickenham Stadium, Massie-Taylor said that the West Midlands club had enough funds for [...]
Worcester future unclear despite owners saying player wages paid September 1, 2022 The close of play yesterday, the last day of the month, was the deadline for troubled Premiership rugby club Worcester Warriors to pay their players and staff. But as we reach September, just a week out from the new Premiership season, it’s still not certain as to whether Worcester will take the field against London [...]
Private equity influx in rugby will not save entire club game August 31, 2022 It’s no new phenomenon to see sports clubs, which tend to be at the heart of the community they serve, face financial challenges and ultimately go under. But why is this happening in rugby when the sport has benefited from a flurry of private equity investment which is shaping the future of the oval-balled game? [...]
Warriors’ land deals could be overturned if they enter administration August 23, 2022 Unexplained land deals undertaken by the owners of Worcester Warriors could be investigated and ultimately overturned if the Premiership rugby club goes into administration. The West Midlands club’s hierarchy have confirmed talks with HMRC after receiving a winding-up petition over unpaid tax, amid fears that a team who finished 11th last season could go into [...]