Today's Time :
Toxic reign of these unworthy owners cannot end soon enough
Here was a scene that shamed English rugby. That is no comment on those who worked through the night, most with reduced pay and many without anything at all, to stage this match; nor the players, who fought and scrapped as well as they could; nor Steve Diamond, Worcester Warriors’ director of rugby, and his staff, who have moved mountains to play; nor Exeter Chiefs, who had a job to do in tough circumstances.
However, anyone involved in the game in this country — from the RFU, right the way down — who watched yesterday’s match should hang their heads.
How on earth it has come to this, how we have drifted into this abyss, how it has been allowed to happen in front of everyone’s eyes, beggars belief.
Worcester came in with no chance against Exeter. How could they?
Players and staff should be lauded for playing on despite everything. They were heralded before the game by the 4,999 fans allowed inside, the unpaid staff forming a guard of honour before the match. Later, in the 65th minute, the one occupied stand stood to applaud those who have not yet received 35 per cent of their August salaries. One pair of fans held up a homemade sign for the owners: “Wanted: a village for idiots.” Worcester were beaten 36-21. Defeat was all that was ever going to happen.
The players are talented professionals, a credit to themselves, the club and the sport, cracking on admirably while mentally exhausted, racked with uncertainty about their livelihoods.
They do not deserve to be in charge of this club, these people — many of whom, from those in the ticket office to stewards and bar tenders, volunteered to get the game on, or others from the Worcester Warriors Foundation rattling buckets to help top up staff pay.
Their endless broken promises have left this place rebellious, angry, on its knees. The end of their involvement in Worcester, and rugby, cannot come soon enough.
Whittingham did send out a statement to BT Sport — though not, incidentally, to his director of rugby, who had not seen it when asked about it — trying to calm the mood before kick-off.
In it he said that the club were “in the final stages” of agreeing terms with a new buyer who is “absolutely committed to rugby at Sixways” and will “inject funds early next week”. That all may be true, but no one here was convinced — they have heard this for weeks now, having been told for days an announcement was imminent. Indeed, the supporters’ club were informed — wrongly — that heads of terms had been signed on Friday, and said as much on local radio. They have had enough.
It is just as well the owners were not here, as it might have incited a mob. They have not turned up at Sixways for months, and, incredibly, want to stay on with a minority stake. It is hard to imagine fans, staff and players buying into a club that the owners are still involved in.
“We’re past the point of anger,” Dave Kling, a supporter, said. “I cannot see the owners ever setting foot in the city again. I gather they know that. Their names in the local area are now toxic, sullied. Maybe they don’t deserve that, but that’s the reality. I can’t see how they carry on. We need new owners we can trust.”
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This is meant to be the top flight of English rugby, in a professional league that calls itself the best in the world. But stripping away all the defiance, you were left with only sourness and shame at this amateurish scene.
Always a Wasp
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