Committee to grill chiefs on financial crisis

RUGBY bosses will face a parliamentary committee next month to address the game’s financial crisis.

Wasps joined Worcester in administration on Monday, making 167 members of staff, including players and coaches, redundant. Both clubs had already been suspended from the Premiership, which now contains just 11 teams.

Officials from the Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby are now set to appear before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee to answer questions on the problems facing those clubs and the wider sustainability of the game.

DCMS committee chair Julian Knight said: “The fact that two of the country’s top clubs have now suffered the fate of falling into administration raises serious concerns about the future of the sport and its financial viability.

“The RFU and Premiership Rugby have acknowledged the need to set a more sustainable path for club rugby.

“We will be pressing them to ensure they are putting the foundations in place to guarantee the health of the sport from the top level right down to the grassroots.”

Wasps were hit by a winding-up order from HM Revenue and Customs for £2 million in unpaid tax and also faced having to repay their £35m bond.

RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney says the governing body supports a move to a ten-team Premiership from the 2024-25 season onwards to try to avoid the overlap between domestic and international matches.

“I do see it as viable for a number of reasons, and we’ve been saying for quite some time now that less is more,’’ he said. “Clearly one of the major issues we’ve got to grapple with is the calendar. One of the things that’s held us back in England is the overlap between the international game and the club game.”

Meanwhile, Premiership club Gloucester have signed three players from crisis-hit Worcester.

Centres Alex Searle and Seb Atkinson, together with hooker Finn Theobald-thomas, have become the latest trio to leave the Warriors.