London Welsh plight reaches parliament - espnscrum.com
London Welsh's quest to overturn a Rugby Football Union decision to deny them promotion to the Aviva Premiership should they win the Championship final has been raised in the House of Commons.
Gareth Thomas, MP for Harrow West, urged the RFU to re-think their decision by tabling an Early Day Motion yesterday with the aim of attracting enough support to trigger a debate in parliament. The Rugby Football Union announced on Wednesday - a matter of hours before London Welsh's play-off final first leg against Cornish Pirates - that the Exiles had failed to meet the minimum standards criteria for the Premiership and therefore would not be promoted should they claim the Championship title.
London Welsh look set to appeal this decision and Thomas has moved to bring the matter to the attention of parliament - although it is highly unlikely that it will be debated. His motion read: "This House condemns the decision of the Rugby Football Union to reject the possibility of London Welsh gaining promotion to and playing in the Premiership in 2012-13.
"[It] notes the huge contribution London Welsh has made to both league and international rugby throughout its history; further notes the determination of the board of London Welsh to continue to develop both the performance and commercial sides of the club; and urges the Rugby Football Union to reconsider its decision."
Thomas also queried the RFU's decision to find fault with the club's proposed groundshare at Oxford United FC's Kassam Stadium when four other teams in the Premiership already operate under similar circumstances.
Thomas attracted support from Denis MacShane, MP for Rotherham, who recalled the plight of Rotherham when they were refused entry to the Premiership on similar grounds in 2002. He also heavily criticised the RFU, saying: "Frankly the men in blazers and those bright pink and orange corduroy trousers who control the RFU will not give any consideration to the passion of London Welsh, its players and its supporters.
"We experienced that in Rotherham when we got into the premier league and were then booted out. We had a wonderful ground and people could get right down to the touchline to watch the rugby. It is much better than sitting up in a big stadium, but those gentlemen of a particular class are the worst administrators of any of our major games. I wish my Hon. friend well, but he ain't going to get going until they change their corduroy trousers."
In addition, David Mowat, MP for Warrington South, raised the question of the Newcastle Falcons who look set to benefit if the RFU rules that Welsh have not passed the MSC for the Premiership. He claimed that their relegation would see the game have a strong dominance in the south of England, to which Thomas responded: "I certainly hope that when Newcastle takes its place in the Championship, as I hope it will, it continues to benefit from the RFU's support and largesse so that it can have a genuine chance of winning a place back in the Premiership.
"Nevertheless, we have to allow proper promotion and relegation to take place. I do not think London Welsh has been properly treated thus far."
London 2012 - Bolt storms to victory at Golden Spike - Yahoo! Eurosport
Usain Bolt laboured to victory in the men's 100 metres at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava on Friday but was at a loss to explain why after failing to improve on his season best or meet the target he had set himself before the race.
Jamaica's Olympic champion and world record holder clocked 10.04 seconds into a head wind to beat Kim Collins of Saint Kitts & Nevis and American Darvis Patton.
It was the slowest time Bolt has run in his 30 sprint finals and a step down from the 9.82 he produced in his only previous outing this season in Kingston, Jamaica on May 5.
He had spoken this week of wanting to run around 9.7 seconds as he continues his build-up to this year's London Games.
"I'm disappointed," Bolt said. "At the start I felt pretty much no energy. I guess it was one of those bad days.
"I wasn't feeling as strong as I usually feel out of the blocks, my legs felt dead. I don't know what the reason is. I'll need to go back to the drawing board, talk to the coach."
Bolt was slow out of the blocks, after South Africa's Simon Magakwe was disqualified for a false start, but easily reeled in Collins, who crossed the line in 10.19 with Patton three one hundredths of a second further back.
The 25-year-old Bolt said the false start did not affect him, yet his reaction time of 0.180 seconds off the line suggested otherwise.
Britain's Dwain Chambers was fifth in a season best 10.28 but failed to reach the Olympic qualifying time of 10.18 that would have guaranteed him eligibility for selection.
Chambers, 34, served a two-year doping ban but was cleared to compete at the London Games when the Court of Arbitration overruled a British Olympic life ban on drug offenders.
In the men's 400 metres, Olympic champion Lashawn Merritt of the United States won in 45.13 seconds while Veronica Campbell-Brown was victorious in the women's 200 in 22.38.
While it was an improvement on the 22.50 Jamaica's twice Olympic champion ran at last week's Shanghai Diamond League meeting, Campbell-Brown's rival, Carmelita Jeter of the United States, still holds the year's quickest time of 22.31.
"I am grateful for the result, the objective is to finish healthy and I am happy I got the victory here tonight," Campbell-Brown said.
"The (Olympic) competition will be tough... it is too early to say (who will be the biggest challenger), there are so many talented women and everybody wants to win. We will get a better idea as we get closer to the Games."
Wallace Spearmon of the United States won the men's 200 in 20.14 while fellow American Sanya Richards-Ross beat Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu in the women's 400 in 50.65 seconds.
The men's 110 metres hurdles was won by another American, Dexter Faulk, in 13.13, and Briton Tiffany Porter also matched her season best to claim the women's 100 metre hurdles.
Olympic javelin champion Czech Barbora Spotakova overcame her poor record at home meets with a world-leading 67.78 metres with her main rival, Russia's Mariya Abakumova, second (64.34).
"I felt better than ever before at this meeting," Spotakova said. "I had the feeling my best throw was taken down by wind a little, I think I have a few metres left (to improve).
"I am pleased I delivered a balanced series of attempts, that's a good base for one attempt to fly further. And I am happy I beat her," she added, referring to Abakumova.
Vitezslav Vesely capped a great night for the hosts in the javelin by beating Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway with an 85.67 metre effort.
0 Responses to "London Welsh plight reaches parliament - espnscrum.com"
Post a Comment