'We’re ready to fight' - Championship boss sets promotion goal

Doncaster Knights president and co-benefactor Steve Lloyd wants his team to be good enough on the pitch, as well as off it, in a bid to break through the glass ceiling and make it into the Gallagher Premiership.

A run of four straight wins in the Championship, on top of two Premiership Rugby Cup victories, have been very welcome but also added to the sense of frustration of ‘what might have been’ at Castle Park, especially as the Knights have beaten runaway leaders Ealing Trailfinders twice.

Having passed the Minimum Standards Criteria (MSC) audit needed to qualify for promotion to the Premiership for the third consecutive year, the Knights were the only team in the second tier eligible for a play-off with the Premiership’s bottom club if they won the Championship title.

However, a slow start to the campaign has left them languishing well off the pace in sixth, 26 points behind Ealing, who failed the MSC audit, despite the recent upsurge in form.

“Having done all the hard work to pass the audit, it would be nice to use it,” Lloyd told The Yorkshire Post.

“I’m comfortable, and I’m understanding of where we are this season and why that is, but next year, we’re ready to fight.

“That’s our goal, to go up how it should be done, without massive debts piling up, to do it affordably.

“We’re well on with retention, we’ve got some good recruits coming in, and we’re working on relationships with other clubs.

“It’s going to be business as usual next season, and we will go flat out for it.”

It’s understood that the coaching team of consultant director of rugby Sir Ian McGeechan and head coach Joe Ford are under contract for next season, although Ford is rumoured to be of interest to Sale Sharks, where his brother George is an influential figure.