Exiles points penalty may offer Richmond a reprieve
RICHMOND could be offered a Championship survival lifeline if crisis club London Welsh are forced into administration.
Welsh are due to visit the High Court for a fourth time this year on December 12, where they face an HMRC winding-up order for unpaid taxes of £250,000.
Not only must they settle that debt, Welsh must prove to the RFU that they can operate a sustainable business. Failure to do so could see Welsh go into administration which, The Rugby
Paper understands, would incur a 22-point penalty.
That would plunge the Exiles to the foot of the Championship table, offering rapidly-improving part-timers Richmond a realistic shot at survival.
Such is Welsh’s plight that players have been told they may have to accept pay cuts or move on, with agents active behind the scenes.
A London Welsh said: “Players have met with club officials and been told the situation. Wages may be paid late, or even not at all, and while there’s a lot of conjecture over what might happen, it looks pretty bad.
“The players aren’t merdling cenaries, they want to play for London Welsh, but livelihoods are at stake.”
London Welsh’s plight stems from their expensive dalliance with the Premiership and subsequent withdrawal of long-time benefactor Kelvin Bryon.
With no assets, dwin- crowds and few major sources of income beyond the £530,000-a-year in RFU funding, maintaining a fulltime squad is unfeasible.
Following a High Court hearing in September, thenchairman Bleddyn Phillips claimed a deal had been done with a Californian investment company – but no money was forthcoming and Phillips resigned, leaving new chairman Gareth Hawkins to pick up the pieces. Hawkins remains in dialogue with the RFU ahead of the club’s High Court date with destiny.
Richmond are monitoring the situation but their chairman, Peter Moore, insists the club will not splash money on players in order to boost their chances.
He told TRP: “We won’t try to secure our position in the Championship by borrowing money or trying to sign full-time players because, frankly, it’s just a one-way street.
“Championship rugby is a complete loss leader and there are six or seven clubs right on the edge, desperate for something to happen financially in January.
“We’ve seen what’s happened with London Welsh and Jersey and others are in the same boat. It won’t happen here, we’ll stick with our existing players.”