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'Positive energy' Diamond tweet will delight all Worcester fans

By Liam Heagney
(Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Worcester boss Steve Diamond has tweeted confirmation that all his players have been paid and that their Gallagher Premiership season will begin as planned away to London Irish on September 10. There were fears that the failure to pay salaries on the August 31 due day would spark a player exodus ahead of the new campaign, but an eleventh-hour intervention has headed off that crisis for now.

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A leaked email written by Worcester co-owner Colin Goldring on Tuesday generated grave concerns that the payroll would not happen due to the club’s finances being frozen by HMRC due to an unpaid tax bill. “As you will all no doubt know, the club’s bank accounts were frozen shortly after the HMRC petition was issued meaning we are not able to access those funds to help meet payroll. Therefore we do not have the money at this moment to fulfil payroll tomorrow [Wednesday],” read the letter.

The situation dramatically worsened on Wednesday afternoon when Diamond tweeted a 148-word message at 4pm announcing that Friday’s planned friendly versus Glasgow in Inverness was cancelled following the failure to pay wages.

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“We have been forced to take the hugely frustrating and disappointing decision not to travel to Inverness tomorrow [Thursday] for our pre-season fixture against Glasgow Warriors on Friday as players and staff wages remain unpaid,” he wrote at the time.

It simply isn’t feasible to play when futures remain uncertain and a decision had to be taken. It is unethical for professional players to play a full-on game with the risk of injury and the real possibility of no employment to follow. We thank everyone for their continued support and for uniting behind us all.”

However, the outlook theatrically changed again five-and-a-half hours later when Diamond took to Twitter once more, tweeting a 50-word message explaining that a last-gasp resolution had been found to the wages impasse and that Worcester were now suddenly back on track to start the English league season away to London Irish.

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“I would like to confirm having spoken to our owners, all players are paid and all rugby and non-rugby staff will be paid fully over the next few days. Thanks go to Colin and Jason (Whittingham, the other co-owner). We must prepare for Irish in ten days. All positive energy from now on, please,” he wrote.

If the player wages hadn’t been paid their next step would have been to serve notice to Worcester to rectify the outstanding payment. If this wasn’t resolved within 14 days, the players could then terminate the contracts, which also takes 14 days, and leave Sixways as free agents.

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Trevor 2 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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Bull Shark 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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