Always a Wasp

Guys, it needed to be used. We are not looking good at returning anytime soon, thus mothballing the facility is not good business no matter what are personal thoughts are.

Personally with the news, perhaps any Phoenix of our club may occur at our home roots. No reason to stay in the midlands now the training base has gone.

On the face of it the notion is ridiculous. How could English rugby remain competitive at club and international level should this happen? Players would go abroad en mass or leave altogether.

However it may not be as fanciful an idea. Let us be honest Saracens apart - and I do not want this to become a discussion on the nefarious deeds - no other club really challenges in Europes top tier anymore. Since the last PGA agreement where ?200 million was given to the clubs, our national team has wandered between average to woeful. The RFU Sue Day financial findings are reported to show a ?50 million loss which could raise to near on ?80 million by 2025. The clubs are all losing money hand over fist, and if the next PGA does not give further funds more strife could occur. Add in that a 10 team closed shop of a league hardly inspires & the Premiership rugby cup is a poor event that is poorly supported, which all allied above is unlikely to be catnip to potential investors or sponsors, then suddenly amateurism does not seem so far off. It?s being run in a fairly amateur and increasingly non unified way already, with the RFU, PRL, Championship and grass roots more like individual factions rather than the same family. Sugar daddies prop up clubs, and those without are starting to fall, who?s next? London Irish? But I doubt it will stop there.

Yes amateur status would be a tough pill to swallow, however for those of us who remember the amateur days, it isn?t altogether such a bad notion? More clubs could possibly thrive in an environment that is less about the bottom line, and more about having fun. The top league elitism vs the rest could potentially dissolve overnight. Yes the chances of success international & European club level would be vanishingly remote. But would it lead to a competitive game at all levels domestically? It?s not impossible.

Perhaps the above is extreme and even more unlikely to occur, but one thing is for certain, the game is heading for a cliff edge with disastrous consequences if unchecked. Sometimes extreme circumstances require extreme solutions.

I have wonderful memories from our Wasp days, however I felt the loss of our club when it initially folded, not now.

This feels like the right decision for me. We are rightly starting from the lowest level. Weirdly I am pleased as too many great historic clubs such as Richmond, Rugby, Coventry were given no truck when professionalism came and nor should we.

Quote from: Wombles on May 07, 2023, 08:11:43 AM

For this to work you are going to need a thriving Championship at the very least.

Which simply doesn't exist with the lack of funding, lack of interest from sponsors and tv companies, and general all round dismissal from the rfu.

And if the RFU and all stakeholders don?t change this it could well be the torpedo that ultimately sinks the Premiership and professional rugby as we know it in England.

The premiership is exceptionally dull, the loss of relegation and promotion and the PRL v the rest is hastening the demise. Jeopardy is gone and without it our sport will continue to whither on the vine.

Strong leadership is needed now. The current RFU leadership team need changing, the new RFU forcibly remove the PRL as they are causing more harm than good. The leagues need to be fully structured with promotion and relegation so any club with the ambition can make it to the very top.

I love rugby, not just Wasps. But with the current set up and nil excitement this weekend I will not be watching, indeed I am cancelling my BT sport subscription due to the poor product now on display.

Cannot disagree with this at all. No jeopardy, little passion and very little interest from clubs not under the threat of relegation.

Premiership rugby has become very vanilla. If there was promotion and relegation, the excitement of a growing club such as Ealing making the step up next season, whilst watching teams like Newcastle and Gloucester fight tooth and nail to avoid the drop, we would be watching it. But there is not and so we are not. And as such I will be cancelling my BT membership as it is no longer value for money.

English rugby is dying, it needs to change. A 10 team protected league will only hasten its demise.

I have grave concerns at the greed of the PRL and the lack of motivation to protect the game below the Premiership from he RFU. Just when -at long last- the women?s game is growing, its male counterpart is withering on the vine. With playing numbers dropping year on year our game is in serious trouble. Yet the silence from the RFU and the pull the ladder up Jack and sod the rest attitude from the PRL is frightening.

Clubs that bemoan the falling salary cap and its knock on effect in terms of competitiveness seem to ignore that growing beyond our means, and not putting a stop to the serial cheating antics of Saracens and also Bath in driving the cap ever upwards was a core problem they ignored. The removal of relegation and promotion has not only given us a plethora of games without true competition, emotion and jeopardy that only a league with a open trap door can give, it also denies clubs with true ambition to gain a rightful place at the top table. Ealing, a well funded and ambitious club, now looking further afield because their ground does not have a 10,001 capacity. We are sport so small in size the need to have a ground that large seems laughable. But where is the excitement of seeing the same old 10-11 teams play each other every season?.there is none, and as much as BT Sport try to galvanise excitement and emotion, when true jeopardy is not present (relegation) and ambition/hope extinguished (promotion) the game is as good as dead.

The damage done will take at least a generation to resolve. But a start would be the Premiership being merged into the national pyramid, for the ?elite? clubs to remove their egos and selfish desires that are contributing to our sports demise. The RFU putting on some adult trousers, rather than the elasticated ones that currently cover their soft pampered bellies as they ignorantly stroll along enjoying the yearly profits from the 6 nations and HQs hospitality. And start working for all clubs and for all players. Any club should be able to make it to the top of the game, and any player the same. Until we treat this as a game for all, rather than for the few, we are simply counting time until the life support is finally switched off on rugby union for good.

There are lessons learnt and then there is setting a precedent. IF another club is on the verge the only fair reply from the RFU and PRL should mirror that of what ourselves and Worcester received. It cannot be approached any other way, to do otherwise would - I imagine - only create a massive legal challenge from Worcester and Wasps who would rightly and not without merit claim their cases were unfairly treated. It would be a reputational and financial error.

If more clubs go to the wall then it is their fault as it was ours and Worcesters.  They were working within the rules as they were at the time and thus must face the same punishments if our sport has any integrity at all.