The dragon before the cartel...

The decision to deny London Welsh promotion to the Premiership (should they complete victory over Cornish Pirates) sits rather uneasily with me.

One the one hand I am firmly of the opinion that the professional game simply cannot support 24 professional clubs in the Premiership and Championship (and, indeed, it's not that long ago that London Welsh were in administration) and I remain unconvinced that promotion and relegation in its current form is a sustainable model going forward (despite the utterly convincing case presented by Exeter).

On the other hand it is becoming increasingly obvious that there is now a cartel of self-interested Premiership (and a couple of Championship) clubs who receive favourable treatment and disproportionate RFU funding designed to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

Not only are the majority of these clubs still unprofitable (despite the huge financial advantages they enjoy), many do not even meet their own criteria for being in the Premiership, a point that hasn’t gone unnoticed by London Welsh.

That Exeter have somehow managed to gatecrash this party is nothing short of miraculous. Whether London Welsh manage to do the same remains to be seen. History, sadly, would suggest not.

Sharks Attacked

Well done to Steve Diamond and Sale for fielding a starting XV consisting of entirely English-qualified players against Quins at the weekend.

Who gives a hoot if their primary motivation was to secure £200,000 in extra funding from the RFU. Their young, hungry, English players were arguably more competitive than any "first choice" Sale XV might have been and I wish more clubs would follow suit.

Integrity of the league? Bollocks.

Sale should be applauded, not criticised. Messrs Cockerill and Griffiths take note.

Amateur Hour

Farcical doesn’t begin to describe the position at the bottom of the English Premiership.

Ostensibly the result of the Wasps vs Newcastle match will decide which of the 2 teams is relegated to the Championship.

Yet of the 4 teams vying for promotion from the Championship via the play-off system over the next few weeks, only Bristol currently has Premier Rugby approval for its ground and facilities. London Welsh don’t have primacy of tenure while Cornish Pirates and Bedford appear to be a urinal or two short of the required standard, or some such bollocks.

It appears therefore that whoever is ‘relegated’ stands a fair chance (75% as things currently stand) of not being relegated at all, but still might be. And in the meantime the ‘relegated’ club is expected to plan for next season. How, exactly?

Only one word for it - amateurish.