Lawrence Dallaglio says all clubs have to be treated the same way if they go into administration
London – Tuesday 11th October 2022 – Lawrence Dallaglio has insisted that Wasps should not be treated any differently to Worcester should the former European champions go into administration next week.
Dallaglio, who won five Premiership titles as a Wasps player and is now a director of the club, had received some criticism after suggesting on television that the Coventry-based team should avoid dropping into the Championship because of their brand and history.
However, speaking on this week’s edition of the Evening Standard Rugby Podcast, in partnership with Fuller's London Pride, Dallaglio said: ‘Just for clarity, on Worcester being relegated I believe they can appeal being relegated should they come out of administration under different ownership.
‘It is all quite hypothetical with Wasps because they are not actually in administration at the moment and I don’t think that it is fair that one club should be relegated and one shouldn’t, that is not what I was actually saying and if people took that as what I was saying then that’s the reason for my clarification.?
‘I was saying that we need to understand that there has been a global pandemic over the last three years and that we need to understand that if rugby is truly a family then families tend to stick together don’t they.
‘I don’t agree with what’s happened to Worcester, I think it is a heartbreaking situation and they have been left out there on a limb and rugby needs to have a real good look at itself. The game of professional rugby in my opinion is a very small part of the overall game of rugby in this country including grassroots.’
Reports today suggested that Wasps Holdings have sounded out former Newcastle owner Mike Ashley about buying the club and the Coventry Building Society Arena, with the Sports Direct magnate one of five interested parties as Wasps urgently seek a buyer ahead of next Monday’s winding-up petition deadline set by HM Revenue and Customs over an unpaid ￡2million tax bill.
RFU rules state that any team that goes into administration face automatic relegation although this can be appealed if the club can show there was no fault insolvency.
Dallaglio added: ‘Everyone has made huge investment as clubs into that professional end of the game and I think it is important that the right decisions are made to ensure that professional end of the game remains intact. So, hopefully that clarifies the comments as I said I apologise if the comments were taken out of context it certainly wasn’t my case to put that message across.’
The Evening Standard Rugby Podcast, in partnership with Fuller’s London Pride, is a weekly podcast that launched in 2021.
London Pride are the Official Beer of Premiership Rugby and the weekly podcast is now back with BT Sport Rugby presenter Sarra Elgan joining the team as regular presenter alongside Dallaglio.
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