It’s rare for me to write a preview of the weekend’s matches, especially when there are only three of them.
But a sequence of extraordinary events has been dropping off the telegraph wires that take some understanding.
Let’s start with Worcester Warriors
Their new owners, James Sandford and Jim O’Toole (Atlas Worcester Warriors RFC Ltd), made two mind-blowing announcements this week: 1. The club’s name would change to Sixways Rugby. 2. But they will not be playing there. The likeliest alternative venue is Stourbridge RFC, 18 miles to the north, but still in Worcestershire. That club is now meeting to discuss the possible consequences.
The RFU reacted at once, Alex Teasdale, RFU Women’s Game Director, said that it had always been their intention to save Warriors if they possibly could. But at the same time those two changes had first to be authorised at Twickenham.
The family of the late Cecil Duckworth who founded the club, say they are devastated by the news. The proposed changes are ‘destroying his legacy.’
Reactions from members and fans are many and damning.
Wasps
Second, Wasps have had to resort to crowd-funding. They have no money coming in.
By the direst of ironies the two clubs who are, in all likelihood, being shown the door, meet in Darlington (see fixtures below). That is one of the longer coach journeys on the menu. Fortunately people are coming to the rescue; by Tuesday the funding had reached £7,400, well beyond the initial target of £5,000. Until that happened they doubted they could make the trip.
What is strange here is the absence of a similar supportive statement from HQ. Why was the RFU so set on preserving Warriors, but apparently unwilling to safeguard the futures of DMPS and Wasps?
I have queried the financial structures of the ten clubs several times in the past. How is it possible for the most senior club in the country to finish up holding out a begging-bowl?
Quins
This week too, Quins posted a huge statement about the latest Game Changer, of which they are inordinately proud. Hyperbole reigns.
Their opponents just happen to be Wasps. Wasps are allowed one brief mention, so that would-be ticket-purchasers know what they are paying for. But there is not a single mention of the travails the club is passing through.
Perhaps the posting was written up before the bad news came through. Let’s hope so. Otherwise it might have been more gracious to mention the crowd-funding. But that in turn might well mean more people staying away.
Quins have a nice line in proving how they are the most forward-looking, the most sympathetic and socially aware club in the land. Wasps have scored 21 points in 9 matches.
Fixtures (these are all catch-ups):
Sale Sharks v Saracens
Referee: Ian Tempest
ARs: Nikki O’Donnell and Andrew Ashwell
University of Worcester Warriors v Bristol Bears
Referee: Alex Thomas
ARs: Fiona Brunt and Simon Adams
DMP Sharks v Wasps
Referee: Harry Walbaum
ARs: Rebecca Rees and Jamie Leahy
with thanks to rugbyreferee.net
