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Worcester Warriors renamed and will not play in RFU Championship
By PA
Worcester Warriors will be renamed Sixways Rugby as ownership group Atlas revealed the club will not feature in next season’s Championship.
The Rugby Football Union set a deadline of February 14 for the Warriors to provide evidence they had met relevant conditions to participate in the second-tier competition.
But director Jim O’Toole, who alongside former London Irish player James Sandford led the consortium that took over Worcester, says the Warriors would instead be merging with fourth-tier side Stourbridge.
“There were a number of key clauses in the contract that we couldn’t sign,” O’Toole, Worcester’s former chief executive, told BBC Hereford & Worcester.
“This decision will clearly upset and annoy a number of people. The sad fact of life is that the Worcester Warriors brand and the Worcester Warriors business is gone.
“The name sadly will disappear. We are rebranding as Sixways Rugby.”
Atlas are now set to invest in Stourbridge RFC's first team in order to guide them up the leagues. Currently they are bottom of National League 2 West with just a single win in 18 games and a 13-point gap separate them from the team above them in 13th.
"We will invest in their semi-professional first team and they will play at Sixways," said O'Toole. "We will invest significantly to get them through the leagues. The plan will be to reach the Championship by 2026.
“We hope to be able to call upon former players to come in and help us move through the divisions. Some of the older guys who can still mix it in that league, as well as the players who were breaking through from the academy.”
The Worcester Warriors brand will now live on through Warriors Women, who last November secured RFU sanction and finance for their Allianz Premier 15 season. Existing team sponsors and a local Worcester business underwrote the team’s operating costs.
Former Worcester Warriors second row Joe Batley wrote: "Gutted, Worcester Warriors will always hold a piece of my heart."
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I don't think this is going to happen and personally, I don't believe it should. The whole new Enhanced Player Squad (EPS) contracts can only be awarded to EQPs signed to Premiership teams (not sure about Championship sides). The Prem clubs are not going to be agreeable to any changes that see their best players heading off to France/Japan etc. Personally, I believe the Prem should be ring-fenced further with even tighter restrictions on the number of foreign players clubs can have on their books. If the RFU are serious about development pathways, then the Prem and Championship should be establish as the best nurseries for developing emerging EQP.
Completely agree. Really disappointed that we're unlikely to see more of the England A/U20 cohort against Japan this week. Seems a perfect opportunity to get some of them on off the bench for 20-mins or so. The disparity between the starting 15 and the bench has been one of the biggest issues this Autumn.
Another hot topic atm., though I'm not sure who you'd replace him with. Someone, somewhere mentioned making George Ford captain, but that creates a whole other set of issues regarding you-know-who. Agree about looking at some alternative 12/13 options. Can't see Borthwick drifting too far from Furbank at FB with Steward covering for high-kicking opposition.
Go to commentsHe didn't say that. He said that he still thought Ireland were the best team in the world, and he is entitled to say that.
After the NZ series Foster said the TMO handed the series to Ireland. He said the same after the RWC final. NZ always blame others for their losses.
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