London Welsh statement on Appeal decision

Posted on Mar 26, 2013 in London Welsh

Following the Independent Appeal Panel’s decision to uphold the five point penalty and £15,000 fine, for fielding an ineligible player, London Welsh have issued the following statement:

London Welsh RFC is extremely disappointed by the Independent Appeal Panel’s decision to uphold the five-point deduction and £15,000 fine against the club, with regard to the charge that it fielded an ineligible player, Tyson Keats, in ten Aviva Premiership matches this season.

However, the club welcomes the Panel’s decision to remove the suspended five-point penalty imposed until the end of the 2013-14 season, and believes that this action justifies its decision to appeal.

The club also believes that this cause of action was necessary to restore the good name of the London Welsh RFC, as once it became clear what had happened, the club made every effort to “remedy the situation” and did not, at any stage, deliberately attempt to deceive the RFU. A point acknowledged by the panel in their findings.

The club maintains, however, that it has ultimately been punished for the completely unnecessary fraudulent actions of one individual, whose actions the panel accepted “could not have been predicted”.

“The club is hugely disappointed by the decision of the Independent Appeal Panel to uphold the five-point deduction for this season,” said London Welsh CEO Tony Copsey.

“We are particularly disappointed for the players, who’ve given everything they can for the club, and ultimately it is they who have been punished for something completely beyond their control.

“However, there are still four games remaining in the season and the focus and efforts of the players, the coaching staff and everyone at London Welsh is now on those remaining matches.”

London Welsh RFC will be making no further comment at this time.

Doncaster Knights v London Scottish postponed to next Friday

Posted on Jan 25, 2013 in Doncaster

Tonight’s Championship Round 14 fixture against London Scottish has been postponed.

The referee who inspected the Castle Park turf this morning deemed the pitch potentially playable; however, in view of the adverse weather forecast, the predicted snow and associated Amber Warnings issued by the UK Met Office and Highways Agency for the Yorkshire & Humber Region, the RFU agreed the postponement of the game until next Friday provided both clubs agreed.

The Club have been in conversation with London Scottish who agreed that, in view of the impending conditions, they would take our advice to not travel and agreed to the postponement.

All hospitality and commercial plans will move to next Friday night for the rescheduled match against London Scottish on February 1st (KO 19:45).

The Club would like to thank the volunteers and others who braved the elements to clear the snow yesterday.

New four-year Elite Player Squad agreement

Posted on Jan 18, 2013 in England

A new four-year England Elite Player Squad agreement has been reached between the Rugby Football Union, the Rugby Players’ Association and Premiership Rugby. The new agreement comes at a time when England’s stock is high and they are regarded as a good bet in sportsbook review to complete a 6 Nations championship clean sweep.

The EPS agreement covers England senior, Saxons and Under 20 squads until June 30, 2016 and includes confirmation of squad and match fees and performance bonuses.

Together with the existing eight-year Heads of Agreement between the RFU and Premiership Rugby, it ensures a stable future for club and country beyond the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

RFU Chief Executive Ian Ritchie said: “This agreement is another major step forward for the RFU, players and the clubs, and I would like to thank the RPA and Premiership Rugby for their cooperation and for reinforcing the partnership we enjoy.

“One of the strengths of the English game is that we have enshrined in contract the release of players from their clubs which gives Stuart Lancaster and his coaches confidence in their availability. Now this new agreement has been reached, we have stability and everyone pulling in the right direction through to the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and beyond. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the clubs for allowing us to add an additional player to the senior EPS for the forthcoming RBS 6 Nations.”

RPA Chief Executive Damian Hopley said: “In agreeing this new four-year deal on behalf of the EPS, all parties wanted to ensure that we built on the foundations and progress made by Stuart Lancaster and the squad in the last 12 months.

“The new contract duly recognises the efforts made by all 33 of the Senior EPS as well as the increasing overall value of the players to the RFU and their partners. We look forward to working collaboratively with the England squad and the RFU to deliver these rights, and I would like to thank the England Players Committee for their invaluable and professional input throughout these good natured negotiations.”

Premiership Rugby Chief Executive Mark McCafferty said:  “We are delighted to be playing our part in giving Stuart Lancaster and the England team everything they need on the road to 2015 and we look forward to the continued support of the players and the RFU to ensure Aviva Premiership rugby goes from strength to the strength.

“We’ve shown flexibility in allowing Stuart to make seven changes to the EPS this month and to add a 33rd player to give him increased options following the law changes for international rugby rugby to increase the match day squads to 23, as is already been the case in Aviva Premiership rugby.”

Stuart Lancaster launches Natwest RugbyForce

Posted on Jan 14, 2013 in Rugby News

Stuart Lancaster today launched NatWest RugbyForce, a nationwide programme developed in partnership with the RFU, which will aim to help nearly half of English community rugby clubs become stronger businesses over the next five years.

The England Head Coach will act as a NatWest RugbyForce ambassador in England from 2013 onwards, looking to raise the profile of the initiative and encourage community clubs to register to take part.

NatWest RugbyForce helps local rugby clubs to improve their facilities with the support of volunteers and the community, with a long term goal of making clubs more financially viable businesses.

Now in its fifth year, 2013 will see an enhanced programme which will enable all registered clubs to receive online guidance and support to help make their NatWest RugbyForce Weekend a great success. In addition, over the next five years up to 50% of clubs will get access to planning workshops and funding to help make improvements to their facilities.

The NatWest RugbyForce Weekend on 15th & 16th June remains a central part of the initiative, as an opportunity to encourage club members and the local community to come together for a weekend of DIY.

England Head Coach and a NatWest RugbyForce ambassador Lancaster, said: “Rugby clubs are at the heart of their local communities and we know that they need support to sustain themselves,  not only for the next couple of seasons but also for the years to come. Many England players started their careers at these clubs and NatWest RugbyForce will help clubs to help themselves by giving them a long term vision and enabling them to think like a business to attract and retain members.”

Paul Dunkin, NatWest Sponsorship Manager said: “Thanks to our enhanced community partnership with the RFU we are proud to launch Natwest RugbyForce with Stuart as its ambassador and announce additional support for the programme which furthers the RFU’s commitment to help clubs become more sustainable. Delivering RugbyForce under NatWest in England also enables us to help support and promote the programme locally through our NatWest branches across the country".

RugbyForce was created by RBS in 2009, underpinning the RBS 6 Nations sponsorship to demonstrate the bank’s support to the grassroots of the game. The programme is delivered across the four home nations by the relevant RBS Group division which operates in each market (NatWest in England and Wales, RBS in Scotland and Ulster Bank in Ireland).

The RugbyForce programme forms part of the partnership announced by the RFU and RBS last November, focused on supporting the grassroots game, as part of the RFU’s commitment to strengthen its member clubs.

Visit www.rfu.com/NatwestRugbyForce for further information and to register for the 2013 NatWest RugbyForce programme.

Sloan and Purdy added to England U-20s squad

Posted on Jan 10, 2013 in England U20

ENGLAND Under-20s have announced their revised Elite Player Squad, making two changes with Harlequins centre Harry Sloan and Leicester Tigers wing Henry Purdy coming into the 32-man group.

Head Coach Rob Hunter’s squad will look to defend their Under 20 Six Nations title over the next two months before heading to France for the IRB Junior World Championship in June.

Hunter said: “We’ve made a couple of changes to the squad and brought in two guys who have been performing consistently well at their club. Both Harry and Henry are talented players and we’re excited to see what they can bring.

“Our focus at the moment is solely on our own preparation and that first Six Nations game against Scotland in Plymouth. They’ve had a warm up game and they’ll be coming at us from the first whistle, but we’ve trained well and we’re looking forward to getting out there on February 1.”

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