The Rugby Football Union is seeking answers from London Irish over their failure to pay players and staff on time amid fears the Exiles could be the latest Premiership club to collapse.
Players and staff were told at the end of last week that wages would be late but were expected to arrive on Monday, only for a further delay to take place.
Club insiders sought to play down the delay, citing the bank holiday as a contributing factor, but there were also concerns over the March wages before the US consortium seeking to invest in the club footed the bill.
“The RFU has contacted London Irish to seek reassurance that staff and players will receive wages imminently,” read a statement.
It is a concerning development because missed payrolls foreshadowed the demise of Worcester while promises of imminent investment that never materialised were frequent occurrences for the Warriors and for Wasps, both of whom went bust this season.
The London Irish owner, Mick Crossan, has been seeking investment with the club saddled by debts of more than £30m. The situation is different to Wasps and Worcester insofar as Irish do not have HMRC chasing them, but fears over their financial predicament have followed them all season. US investment has been mooted for almost as long but is yet to be finalised.
The Premiership Rugby chief executive, Simon Massie-Taylor, sought to allay fears that Irish would succumb to the same fate as Worcester and Wasps and confirmed representatives of the US consortium met players and staff on Tuesday. “I do think it’s different [to the situations at Worcester Warriors and Wasps],” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Between Premiership Rugby and the RFU, we’ve been engaged for quite a while with both the current ownership and the future buyers and there are lots of very positive signals coming from both sides.
“It’s been reported that the new ownership have been in front of the players and the staff last week and today, which is a positive signal of their intent. And if it comes off then clearly you’ve got a new breed of investor. They’re from across the pond and they’ve got interest in other sports so it is a positive news story.”
The RFU would need to conduct strict due diligence on any takeover after the union was skewered by MPs as part of a digital, culture, media and sport select committee hearing into the collapses of Wasps and Worcester. The investors, therefore, would have to pass the RFU’s fit and proper owners’ test and demonstrate proof of funds to be given the green light.
It is also the responsibility of the RFU to suspend any club that cannot meet its financial commitments, as was the case with Wasps and Worcester, who were both subsequently removed from the Premiership permanently.
On the field, Irish have enjoyed a resurgence since Christmas and risen up the table and though they just missed out on the Premiership playoffs they sit in fifth place heading into the final weekend of the season, when they host Exeter. They also have a crop of young English players which does make them a more attractive proposition for potential investors.
They are, however, tenants at Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium and the Premier League club is said to have concerns about sharing with Irish – given problems with the pitch – now that they are an established top‑flight side.
