London Welsh are two points adrift at the bottom of the Premiership after being docked five points by the RFU for fielding an ineligible player, scrum half Tyson Keats.
I was fearing it might have been worse for the Exiles, but with only five games to go, Lyn Jones’s side now have their work cut out to avoid an immediate return to the Championship…
It means their fellow exiles London Irish, based along the M4 corridor in Reading, are pretty much safe in 10th place.
London Welsh could be all but relegated on Tuesday.
Their RFU panel hearing looking into allegations they fielded an ineligible player – scrum half Tyson Keats – could dock the Exiles points, sending them to the bottom of the Premiership table, and with a tough run-in of games to come.
Welsh are still 11th in the 12-team league, on 22 points. Sale have 19 points and London Irish have 24. Ninth-placed Worcester, on the back of a win this weekend, should be safe on 32.
Welsh will argue Keats, a New Zealander, is eligible to play for England on account of British grandparents, meaning his registration as an English player would not have been in error.
For more information on the charge and the defence to be mounted by the club, read this overview on ESPN Scrum.
London Welsh’s thrashing at Exeter at the weekend, coupled with a win for London Irish meant Lyn Jones’s side hovered precariously just one place outside the Aviva Premiership relegation zone.
But, with six games (four of which are away) to go, and with the Exiles being just three points ahead of bottom side Sale, there comes news which could spell doom for Welsh’s hopes of top-flight survival.
And what a way to go it would be. Here’s the statement from the London Welsh website:
London Welsh RFC are to appear before an RFU Competitions Hearing charged with fielding an ineligible player in a number of Aviva Premiership matches this season. The matter was brought to the RFU’s attention by London Welsh after the club conducted an internal investigation earlier this month.
The case relating to the registration of scrum half Tyson Keats will be heard on Tuesday, March 5 by a panel of Jeremy Summers (chairman), Premiership Rugby Chief Executive Mark McCafferty and Dr Julian Morris at the offices of Slater & Gordon, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1HL.
The club’s former Rugby Manager Mike Scott is the subject of a separate RFU Disciplinary Hearing relating to the registration of the same player and has been charged under RFU Rule 5.12 for ’conduct prejudicial to the interests of the Union or the Game’. That case will be heard at a later date.
The club would like to stress that no fault in this matter resides with the player.
London Welsh CEO Tony Copsey said: “This is obviously a serious matter which the club has not only brought to the attention of the RFU but is also working closely with the RFU to provide full cooperation whilst the case is being prepared and ultimately heard next week.
“Due to the sensitive nature and the impeding hearing the club is unable to make any further comment at this time.”
I’ve been banging on about for them basically since this blog started, but yesterday, finally, I made it to a London Welsh game.
Frustratingly, despite Welsh scoring 13 straight points in the second half to take a 25-20 lead, bottom-of-the-table Sale managed to sneak a 26-25 win.
The stand I was in was much more full, honestly
It was a priceless four points for the Sharks, and although the Exiles picked up a losing bonus point, London Welsh face a seriously tough fight in the battle to avoid relegation. After the weekend results, they remain 10th on 22 points, just two ahead of London Irish in 11th and three ahead of Sale. The Worcester Warriors, with 26 points, are far from safe in ninth with seven games remaining.
But Welsh now face a run of four consecutive away games, where standing points will be at a premium. A win for Irish and Sale and Lyn Jones’s men could be bottom.
Not that the games at Oxford United’s Kassam Stadium can feel much like home in themselves. It’s a great ground for a team of Oxford United’s stature (talk about damning them with faint praise…), and is obviously much bigger than London Welsh’s Old Deer Park home.
But with no real links to Oxford, it’s hardly a surprise the Exiles’ home games have the lowest average attendance of any Aviva Premiership team. Yesterday’s crowd of 4,082, slightly lower than that average, should not be sniffed at considering the difficulty in attracting a new fan base to an out-of-town stadium in a new city, but it meant the Kassam Stadium was two-thirds empty.
Those 4,082 witnessed a see-saw contest between two lowly sides and two celebrity-conscious, former international outside halves who have had more than their fair share of off-the-field problems in the form of Gavin Henson and Danny Cipriani.
But while Cipriani’s kicking from hand was decidedly dodgy, Henson was superb, thoroughly deserving his man-of-the-match award and the subsequent plaudits from national reporters.
His control of the backline was phenomenal. His passing was excellent, floating some wide, flicking others out of the back of his hand, but always accurate, setting up an attack, exploiting half-gaps and setting up the hosts’ sole try, scored by Canada international Phil Mackenzie. He really was a class apart, and did not deserve to be on the losing side.
In fact, he shouldn’t have been. With Sale looking to run out the clock, they lost the ball deep in London Welsh territory. But the backs spread the ball quickly, and left wing Nick Scott had acres of room to run into, plus an overlap. But instead of passing, he inexplicably cut inside. The move soon broke down and London Welsh lost – Scott will be hoping against hope his decision does not cost his side its Premiership place.
An Early Bath 