Will Worcester Warriors Avoid Relegation?

Following the winding up of WRFC Players Limited on 5 October 2022, the RFU announced that Worcester Warriors (“Worcester”, the “Club”) would be suspended from the remainder of the 2022/23 Premiership Rugby season, and would then be relegated to the…

Ealing and Doncaster Denied Premiership Promotion: Grounds for Appeal?

On 1 March 2022, the RFU announced that no Championship club had met the Minimum Standards Criteria for entry to the Premiership ahead of the 2022/23 season. As such, the winner of the Championship this year will not be promoted…

The Moratorium on Premiership Relegation: A Legal Perspective

On Friday 12 February, the RFU Council approved a moratorium on relegation from rugby’s Premiership for the 2020-21 season. Citing the impact of COVID-19, the decision has been taken with the financial stability of the Premiership clubs in mind, with…

How Rugby Union is Responding to Covid-19: a Legal Update

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a plethora of legal and administrative hurdles for sport worldwide, and rugby union is no exception. Existing fault-lines have come sharply into focus, as tensions have been exacerbated between the game’s stakeholders and discontent has…

Coronavirus & Rugby: Promotion and Relegation

The Coronavirus pandemic has created an unprecedented crisis for sports administrators. My first article on the legal implications of the pandemic in rugby considered the wage cuts being imposed on players in the English Premiership and the question of whether…

The Relegation of Saracens

On Saturday 18th January 2020, Saracens were condemned to relegation from the English Premiership. Two days on, I can scarcely believe that I have just written that. In spite of the £5.36 million fine, the 35-point deduction and the difficulties…

“Kicked to the Curb”: Players and Clubs unhappy over Yorkshire Carnegie decision

The financial troubles of Yorkshire Carnegie are now well-known. The Championship side announced in April 2019 that it was to go part-time in order to save costs after its principal investor pulled out, but it was revealed in June that…

Rugby’s Week from Hell

The past week might just have been the worst week of rugby news in history. Not ‘the worst’ because it has been dull – far from it – ‘the worst’ in the sense that almost all the news has been…

Rugby’s ‘World’ League: A Cash Cow Cartel

This article was originally published in The Rugby Magazine a new media platform bringing rugby to life; stories, history, analysis and the most comprehensive fantasy rugby game available.   "Fans want to see meaningful games; they don’t want to see fatigued…