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RPA statement: The deadline extension given to London Irish
By Liam Heagney
English players union RPA have issued a short statement following Wednesday evening's decision by the RFU to give London Irish a six-day extension to get their finances in order for next season.
The 2022/23 fifth-place finishers are threatened with suspension from the 2023/24 tournament unless they either complete their mooted takeover by an American-led consortium or else prove they have means themselves to fund next season.
The original May 30 deadline was afforded a day’s grace on the proviso that players and staff would receive their salaries in full.
Instead, it emerged the following day that only 50 per cent of these wages were paid. That shortfall would have allowed the RFU to knock the saga on its head now and suspend London Irish from the Premiership.
However, at the behest of players at the club, the governing body agreed to award a six-day extension in the hope that everything will finally get sorted out.
The delicate situation prompted a statement from the RPA that read: “Whilst we are disappointed that only 50 per cent of player and staff wages for May have now been paid, the wishes of the London Irish player group have been respected in terms of taking all possible action to facilitate the completion of the proposed takeover of London Irish Rugby Football Club.
“This has resulted in a seven-day extension to the RFU deadline. We have remained reasonable throughout this period in light of the various assurances that have been given to both the players and ourselves, and have given the club and its owner every opportunity to complete the necessary work.
"We now urge all parties concerned to complete the necessary work by the June 6 deadline as set out by the RFU.”
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Latest Comments
Don’t pay a blind bit of notice to Lukie… he likes the sound of his own voice and is always looking for something controversial to say. He has been banging on about Leinster's defensive system all season like he knows something Jacques Nienebar doesn’t. Which is the reason why he didn’t apply for the job obviously
Go to commentsI’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldn’t be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasn’t playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japan’s league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? We’ve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
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