Tier Two clubs set to pull out of season
RFU bosses are drawing up contingency plans for a vastly truncated Championship in anticipation of sides withdrawing from the competition.
The Rugby Paper understands as many as six teams are considering their positions after it was confirmed that none of the government’s £9m ‘winter survival’ funding would come in the form of grants. Instead, only longterm loans are available.
In addition, Tier Two clubs are being expected to stump up for their own Covid-19 testing programmes at a current cost of £80,000 over a fourmonth campaign, which is due to begin on March 6 and is scheduled to see clubs split into two pools of six.
RFU officials are keen to see the Championship proceed, not just to offer Saracens a route back to the Premiership but to allow a whole raft of the country’s dual-registered younger players valuable game time after almost a year without any rugby.
Heavy hitters such as Cornish Pirates and London Scottish are among those clubs believed to be considering mothballing until next season, with the Penzancebased Pirates keen to preserve funds ahead of work starting on their new stadium.
One senior rival club official told TRP: “To be
in the last few days that there aren’t any grants and that we’ve got to carry the cost of testing is a big blow.
“Grants would have covered the testing and we’d hoped for £160,000 in all, but the only options available now would saddle us with huge debt.
“We could take out a pretty significant loan, but with no crowds and little prospect of corporate income, who really wants to do that?
“We’ll have to see what the coming days bring but we won’t put our club at risk by borrowing a load of money to play in a fourmonth competition, especially with the government’s furlough scheme continuing to run until at least the end of April.
“We want to play but these are incredibly difficult circumstances we’ve been put in and we don’t want to be paying back debts for years and years.”
Ampthill estimate it would cost them £120,000 in Covid tests alone to participate in the competition and have appealed to fans for financial help.
Otherwise they say: “We are potentially not able to take our place in the coming season.”
They say the decision by the winter survival board makes them feel ‘let down and abandoned’, especially as other sports have had grants from the fund.