Rotherham's chief executive Jim Kilfoyle warned Twickenham last night that it faced a public outcry if, as expected, the first division champions are today denied promotion to the Premiership on the grounds that they do not meet some of the 85 criteria laid down for membership.
Kilfoyle is adamant that Rotherham do meet the criteria, the principal of which requires clubs to be the main tenant at their ground, and he expects the club to be granted promotion today. "The rule relating to the ground a club plays at came into force only from April 1 and, as we had signed the deal with Rotherham United before then, we were in situ before the deadline," said Kilfoyle. "I do not think that ERL [England Rugby Ltd] can deny us and, if they do, there would be a huge public outburst."
The Rugby Football Union declined to comment yesterday.
The board of ERL decided Rotherham's fate over the telephone this week after two meetings around a table and a press conference has been organised for this afternoon. ERL considered the report of the independent auditors, who conducted a comprehensive inspection of the Yorkshire side and had meetings with the club's owner Mike Yarlett.
Kilfoyle added: "We have had letters of support from all over the country, including some from supporters of clubs in relegation trouble like Bath and Harlequins. We have earned the right to go up and we would be a totally different proposition from last season when we finished bottom."
Kilfoyle said he was upset at reports that not only had Rotherham's fate been decided but they had willingly accepted an offer of £750,000 to remain in the first division.
"That suggestion was farcical," he said. "Mike Yarlett and I have sweated blood this season to ensure we got everything right off the field and the players have given their all. Would Mike Schmidt have played on for 15 minutes with a broken arm against Worcester if we intended to take the money and stay where we were?
"We have been living in a vacuum for the last month or so, not knowing whether we would be going up or staying in the first division and that is an environment in which off-the-wall stories flourish. No one should be in any doubt that all we want is promotion and it would have been a pretty dull season in the Premiership without the spectre of relegation."
If Rotherham are knocked back today, and the relaxed atmosphere at Bath's training ground yesterday told its own story, no one will be relegated and the final round of Premiership matches on Sunday, when Leeds, Bath and Saracens would all have been battling for Premiership survival, will be rendered meaningless. Twickenham, in that case, could hardly be accused of luring people to those matches under false pretences.
Bath have drawn up a short list of candidates for the job of director of rugby. They are believed to include the Leeds director of rugby Phil Davies, also a target for Newport, and the New Zealander Brad Johnstone, who was sacked last month by Italy. The club hopes to make an announcement this month.
