A leading barrister has been asked by the Rugby Football Union to conduct an independent inquiry into allegations that 12 Premiership clubs conspired to pay Rotherham to decline promotion from National Division One last season.
Anthony Arlidge QC, a specialist in financial irregularities, will have to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to back up the Worcester chairman Cecil Duckworth's claims that Premiership club owners have also tried to offer inducements to the Yorkshire club this season in order to prevent an established side such as Newcastle or Bath being relegated.
The RFU's disciplinary officer Robert Horner, having studied the dossier provided by Duckworth, said he expected the owners "to cooperate fully with the inquiry". But Premier Rugby representatives, who met Horner yesterday, said he had failed to present them with any evidence and they continued to protest their innocence.
A statement issued on behalf of the club owners insisted that "no payment has been made to Rotherham Football Club to decline promotion this year or in the past, nor will be paid in the future". Rotherham said they had accepted no form of payment and, within Premier Rugby, there is a belief the inquiry will draw a blank. "We've all danced around the handbag and the handbag's pretty dull," said one insider.
The threat of automatic relegation at the end of this season is certain to create more angst between now and May, with Premier Rugby's chief executive Howard Thomas issuing another stark financial warning.
"History shows that the owner either bungs in a load of money to try and come back straight away or they give up," said Thomas. "Mostly they give up because in a tough economic climate it's unrealistic to continue. That means all the good work, such as stadium investment and community programmes, is lost. In soccer virtually every team who have come out of the Premiership have gone into administration. Isn't that a silly way to run a sport?"
Thomas concedes, however, there is no "magic wand" to save an established club from the drop. "I can't see the appetite within English First Division Rugby or the RFU to change the agreement we've got this year. All we can do is amend it the year after. If it can't be changed we have to get on with the agreement we've got."
