RFU Championship final: London Welsh 29-20 Cornish Pirates (agg: 66-41) - BBC News
London Welsh sealed the Championship title and a chance of securing a Premiership place after beating Cornish Pirates 66-41 over two legs.
Welsh are now expected to take legal action over the Rugby Football Union's ruling that they are not eligible for promotion to the top flight.
Matt Evans went over for Pirates but Alex Davies' fifth penalty put Welsh ahead before Hudson Tonga'uiha's try.
Ryan Storer reduced the deficit but Jack Moates rounded off Welsh's win.
An RFU report said the Exiles had not achieved the minimum standards criteria to go up but the Richmond-based side are expeted to explore "all possible avenues" to gain promotion after seeing off Pirates in the final.
Having proposed to play their matches next season at Oxford United's Kassam Stadium, where the second leg of the final was played, an RFU statement said that not having primacy of tenure at their chosen ground was one of "various failures" in Welsh's promotion bid.
Three Premiership sides share grounds with football clubs; London Irish with Reading, London Wasps with Wycombe and Saracens with Watford, while Sale will share with Super League side Salford City Reds next season.
On Wednesday club president John Dawes said chairman Bleddyn Phillips would take the "ultimate" action to ensure Welsh do go up .
Having won at Pirates 37-21 last week , Welsh fought back from a seven-point deficit which threatened their first-leg advantage, to secure the Championship title having finished the regular season in fourth place.
Aaron Penberthy's drop goal had put Pirates ahead, Alex Davies then levelled for Welsh before Rob Cook's penalty and a second from Davies made it 6-6.
Evans gave Pirates a clear lead with the opening try of the match, picking up on a loose ball after Cook's punt forward bounced into open space deep in the Exiles' half.
Cook then added the extras before Davies failed with a penalty attempt on the stroke of half-time.
The Exiles fly-half was successful with his next two attempts with the boot after the break, closing the gap to one point and putting the hosts nine points ahead on aggregate.
Davies added a fifth penalty before Tonga'uiha, who had scored in the first leg, broke through the Pirates defence to touch down and Davies then added his first of two conversions.
Pirates responded with a consolation try as replacement prop Ryan Storer forced his way over after a scramble on the line before Cook added the extras.
But Welsh were not yet done as a fine move saw Ed Jackson feed the ball to Jack Moates, who crossed over to add the gloss to their victory.
LINE-UPS
London Welsh: A. Davies, Ajuwa, J. Lewis, Tonga'uiha, Scott, Ross, R. Lewis, Lahiff, George, Tideswell, Mills, Corker, Beach, Denbee, Jackson.
Replacements: Ma'asi, Moss, Bateman, Purdy, Russell, Moates, Jewell.
Cornish Pirates: Cook, Evans, Pointer, Locke, D. Doherty, Penberthy, Cattle, Rimmer, Ward, Paver, McGolone, Nimmo, D. Ewers, Burgess, Maidment.
Replacements: Storer, Elloway, Myerscough, Marriott, Kebsel, Cooper, McAtee.
Referee: David Rose (RFU)
London jeweler Graff Diamonds puts Hong Kong IPO on hold amid slumping stock markets - Minneapolis Star Tribune
HONG KONG - London jeweler Graff Diamonds is putting its $1.5 billion Hong Kong initial public offering on hold because of the steep sell-off in global stock markets.
In a brief statement Thursday, Graff blamed adverse market conditions for the decision to postpone the IPO in the southern Chinese financial center.
"Consistently declining stock markets proved to be a significant barrier to executing the transaction at this time," the company said.
The jeweler, which gets half of its revenue from less than two dozen customers, would have been the latest in a line of foreign luxury brands to sell shares in Hong Kong. Italian fashion label Prada and luggage maker Samsonite held Hong Kong IPOs last year.
Foreign companies are seeking to cash in on rising investor interest in China, the world's second biggest economy, and to raise their brand profiles with the country's rapidly expanding pool of newly wealthy consumers.
In a prospectus filed earlier with the Hong Kong stock exchange, Graff outlined plans for a strategic expansion in Asia, focusing on China. Plans included opening shops this year in Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai and Hangzhou as well as Tokyo. The company also intends to open five more stores in 2013, most of them in Asia.
The company said that demand for diamond engagement rings is rising sharply in China, where ownership levels are still far from rates in the U.S. and Japan.
Graff's decision to yank its IPO appears to have been made overnight as markets in the U.S. and Europe tumbled on intensifying fears over the European sovereign debt crisis and China's slowing economy. Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index ended 1.9 percent lower Wednesday and is down nearly 15 percent in the past three months.
Hong Kong newspapers still carried ads on Thursday from the company detailing plans to sell up to 311.2 million shares for as much as 37 Hong Kong dollars ($4.76) a share. That means the deal would have raised up to $1.5 billion.
Founder Laurence Graff, who opened his first two stores in London in 1962, has earned a reputation for dealing in large stones. In 2010, Graff paid $46 million at a Swiss auction for a 24.78-carat "fancy intense pink" diamond, which he immediately named "The Graff Pink."
Last year, the company earned nearly half its $755.6 million revenue from just 20 customers.
London Olympics: BT needs 25,000 more Wi-Fi hotspots - zdnet.co.uk
Moonlight wasn't a Microsoft product, so it's not really a failure for Microsoft, more a failure for open source. Or, specifically, for Novell,...
13 hours ago by Jack Schofield on The future of .NET (Mono) on non-Windows platformsLondon 2012 Olympics: best of British food? Locog are taking the tea and biscuit - Daily Telegraph Blogs
Best of British not on offer in copious amounts on the Olympic Park
For some time now London Olympic Games organisers have been insisting that food at the London Olympics would be the best of British.
There were visions of high tea, Sunday roast, Beef Wellington, steak and kidney pie, Cornish pasty, fish and chips, Eton Mess all washed down with a nice hot cup of tea, or a pint of ale.
But it’s not to be, sadly.
The scale and complexity of feeding hundreds of thousands of people at speed means the London 2012 Olympic Games threatens to be like every other recent Games before it: a poor convergence of the expensive and the pedestrian.
Most spectators might accept the higher prices if the quality and consistency was apparent, but if the catering at the Olympic test events were a taster then prepare to be underwhelmed.
The Olympic Park offerings were bland and overpriced, with only the tucker on offer at Horse Guards Parade – where the beach volleyball will be played – the only exception.
Let’s look at the expense first. Locog released its pricing card on Wednesday and immediately the chief executive Paul Deighton was on the defensive, claiming the cost was similar to those found at other major sporting events and the premium was justified because "their temporary nature are often more expensive than the high street".
He forgot to mention the Games’ food suppliers don't pay rent. Or perhaps they do – it’s called 'sponsorship'.
So how much more expensive is it to queue at Olympic Park, rather than bring in food to the Olympic Park from the Local Sainsbury's?
The cost of a 500ml bottle of water (£1.60), an Innocent orange juice (£2.50), a blueberry muffin (£2.50), some oats with maple syrup (£2.20) and a gourmet cheese sandwich (£3.80) at the Olympic Park will cost £12.60 in total.
The same five items from the Sainsbury's en route to the train station cost £5.69.
But I can't bring my four-pack of Heineken 330ml beers (£4.49 for the lot) to the Olympics as they will be confiscated by security.
I would be forced, therefore, to shell out £4.20 for one small bottle at the Olympic Park. Forget ale, unless you happen to be at Lord’s – the archery venue – where it will be available, but only from unmarked taps.
The line at the supermarket might be too long, so consider the High Street alternatives. Olympic coffee priced at £2.60 is £2, and Olympic Coca Cola costing £2.30 is £1.60. At Pret A Manger the water is 95p. At Upper Crust the tea is £1.65.
Next, consider the lack of variety – the very spice of life – as English poet William Cowper famously said.
"We have gone to great lengths to find top quality, tasty food that celebrates the best of Britain," insists Deighton.
The menu – and this comes from the sample provided by the organisers because the whole list is too big and complex to release in its entirety, apparently - is as follows: Singapore noodles; chicken wings; pizza; penne pasta; and chicken burrito. There is Coke and Heineken to drink.
Best of British? No wonder McDonald’s has built its world's biggest restaurant on the Olympic Park capable of seating 1,500.
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