Why there isn’t 'mass panic' at London Irish - Andy Goode
It’s not good at all that players and staff at London Irish are reportedly yet to be paid their April wages but people should be careful likening this to the Worcester saga. The current financial climate in English rugby and the clamour for headlines mean that phrases like ‘financial meltdown’ are being bandied about and it is being suggested that they could go bust – but that isn’t what I’m hearing.
Any deal of this magnitude is difficult to conclude. There are so many fine details to iron out before everything is in place. Of course, it could still fall through but people are rushing to judgement because of everything that has happened elsewhere already this season.
The optics aren’t good when the takeover has already been protracted and has been talked about for a number of weeks and then somebody suggests that the delay with the wages is because of the bank holiday, yet payment still hadn’t gone through on Wednesday morning.
Indeed, it isn’t just optics and the reality of that situation will have made life very difficult for a lot of people at the club who have outgoings at the start of the month and will be struggling to make ends meet during the delay.
However, there is a big leap from that to claiming that the Exiles are on a financial precipice and are about to go under imminently, so a bit of balance wouldn’t go amiss.
Having spoken to people at Irish, I know there have been regular meetings with representatives of the US consortium that is attempting to complete the takeover and fingers crossed they are as good as their word. You can understand why people would worry when you factor in what missed payrolls led to at Worcester and the mistruths that were told there, but every situation is different and this one could yet turn out to be very positive for London Irish.
They have been brilliant on the pitch this season, have an excellent training complex at Hazelwood and a top-class academy – all ingredients that are clearly very attractive to potential investors.
The fact that they don’t own their own stadium is negative and there were rumours recently about a long-term ground share with AFC Wimbledon as opposed to the current deal to play at Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium.
That would be something that you could envisage being tricky to iron out for the consortium but it’s imperative that the club is able to keep what they generate on match days or it will likely be getting into more and more debt all the time.
Due diligence also has to be done on both sides and the RFU, who have contacted Irish to seek reassurance that staff and players will receive wages imminently, will be conducting their fit and proper owners’ test but Premiership Rugby seem confident that everything will be okay.
“I do think it’s different (to the situations at Worcester and Wasps),” chief executive Simon Massie-Taylor told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Between Premiership Rugby and the RFU, we have been engaged for quite a while with both the current ownership and the future buyers and there are lots of very positive signals coming from both sides.
“It’s been reported that the new ownership have been in front of the players and the staff last week and today [Tuesday], which is a positive signal of their intent. And if it comes off then clearly you have got a new breed of investor. They are from across the pond and they have got interest in other sports, so it is a positive news story.”
Deals like this always take longer than anticipated to get over the line. The US consortium wanted to have everything signed, sealed and delivered by the end of April, which clearly hasn’t happened, so there is now an amount to cover in the meantime.
It’s abundantly clear that the financial situation at most Premiership clubs isn’t great at the moment but Irish do not have HMRC chasing them – as Worcester and Wasps did – and there is a big difference between a deal taking a frustrating amount of time to be concluded and them going to the wall.
Hopefully, the good news of a done deal and a few details will be just around the corner, with the April wages also landing in bank accounts imminently, and the headlines of the last day or two will be tomorrow’s fish and chip paper.
Only time will tell whether it does get over the line and Exiles fans can start looking forward to a potentially even brighter future, but the word from inside the camp is that there isn’t mass panic about the situation. Far from it.
Comments on RugbyPass
Except for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
33 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
33 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
33 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
33 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
33 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
33 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
33 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to comments