Here are the latest rugby headlines on Thursday, October 6.
Adams saddened by Worcester plight
Wales and Cardiff winger Josh Adams has spoken of his devastation at the plight of former club Worcester Warriors.
Adams played for the doomed English side between 2015 and 2019 after struggling to find a place in Welsh rugby. It proved to be the making of him as he resurrected his career and became a Wales international and British and Irish Lion in the years that have followed.
Following news all Warriors players have had their contracts terminated on Wednesday following the Gallagher Premiership side's financial implosion, Adams wrote on Instagram: "Worcester give me a chance when nobody else would. To see what has happened to the club over the past few weeks has been horrible.
"It was the life of the city and means so much to the people of Worcester. I had some amazing times there and met some incredible people. I hope this isn’t the end for such a fantastic club."
READ MORE: Leigh Halfpenny's humble note to fiancée and medics who saved his rugby career
World Cup-winner wishes he'd never played
Former England hooker Steve Thompson, who won the 2003 World Cup with his country, has said playing the sport of rugby wasn't worth the risk.
Thompson was one of the first former players to reveal his diagnosis of early onset dementia and has admitted he cannot remember winning the global showpiece with nearly 20 years ago. He has since been at the forefront of a campaign to make the game safer.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said: “I’d say ‘no, it wasn’t worth it’ because I’d rather not be such a burden on the family.
“I’m really scared because it is just getting worse. We have just scratched the surface. There are going to be thousands.
“There’s been a problem there, bubbling away, and now it has just burst. I had three people contact me last weekend, they are struggling, marriages splitting up. It’s not the big concussions, it’s the small concussions. We want to save the game – it is a tremendous game. We have got to try and make it survive.”
Thompson's comments come after the University of Glasgow published a study on Tuesday, which predominantly looked at rugby players from the amateur era and showed they were at a significantly higher risk of dementia, Parkinson's disease and motor neurone disease.
World Rugby's medical chief Eanna Falvey said that the organisation had invested more than €10 million in welfare studies and had established a working group to assess new research.
Lions star back in URC
Edinburgh have capitalised on Worcester's plight by striking a deal to bring British & Irish Lions and Scotland winger Duhan van der Merwe back to the Scottish capital.
All Warriors players had their contracts terminated on Wednesday following the Gallagher Premiership side's financial implosion.
And Edinburgh have moved quickly to re-sign Van der Merwe, who left to join Worcester last year.
"I'd first like to send my thoughts to all those impacted at Worcester and to all players, staff and supporters affected by today's sad news," head coach Mike Blair told Edinburgh's website.
"Duhan is a phenomenal athlete and rugby player who's showcased his abilities at the highest level. He developed significantly in his three years here and we're looking forward to continuing that together. He's very much one of our own and we're really pleased he's coming home.
"It's an exciting development for the entertaining, attacking brand of rugby we're building at the club and something I'm sure supporters will be thrilled about too."
Welsh Premiership 'a minor miracle'
Jason Strange has no doubts the clubs in the Indigo Premiership are punching above their weight and insists: “The league is a minor miracle.”
Strange – who recently signed off his summer stint on the coaching staff of St. Helens by helping them rule rugby league’s Super League for the fourth successive season – now has all his focus on his other coaching job at Ebbw Vale.
The Steelmen host Llandovery on Thursday night in a match that is live on S4C Clic in a tournament Strange believes defies the laws of professional sport.
With central funding from the Welsh Rugby Union having been reduced over successive years, the former Wales U20s chief says: “For me, this league is the crown jewel of Welsh rugby and vastly under-rated and under-valued.
“I think the standard so far this season has been really good. People talk about relative standards with other leagues, but what people forget is that the Welsh Premiership has gone from funding each club £130,000 a season to just £60,000.
“What the Premiership clubs are achieving on £60,000 is a minor miracle.
“When I see the millions spent in other areas and look at what we are doing, I’m amazed. People should understand that £60,000 just about covers the travel costs and pays for one physio.”
Despite the cuts in funding from the WRU – who this week announced a profit of £3.2m for 2022 – the Indigo Premiership is thriving with buoyant attendances, regular TV exposure and a competitive 12-club tournament which this season has attracted a number of players to move from the United Rugby Championship.
Watch live coverage of Ebbw Vale v Llandovery from 7.15pm on Thursday, on S4C Clic, S4C Rygbi Facebook page and the S4C YouTube channel.
Wasps hopeful
Wasps head coach Lee Blackett hopes there can be a positive resolution to uncertainty over the future of the financially stricken club following on from a "very honest" meeting between staff and chief executive Stephen Vaughan.
On Tuesday, Wasps Holdings Limited confirmed a second notice of intention to appoint administrators had been filed, revealing that talks were at "a relatively advanced stage" with possible investors in the face of a winding up order from HM Revenue and Customs for £2million in unpaid tax.
Wasps are also facing up to having to repay a £35million bond which had help finance the club's relocation to Coventry during 2014, while failure to secure the finance needed to prevent administration could result in automatic relegation from the Gallagher Premiership.
The situation at Worcester has sharpened focus, with the club, which is suspended from all competitions, undergoing partial liquidation on Wednesday morning as HMRC pursues unpaid taxes in the region of £6million.
Wasps are set to return to action against Northampton on Sunday, their last match having been a 38-17 defeat to Leicester on September 27 which followed a first win of the season away against Bath.
Blackett revealed there had been a meeting on Wednesday morning - involving both Vaughan and chief operating officer Chris Holland, lasting around 25 minutes at the training ground - which he felt offered hope of a positive resolution as the club looks to move forward.
"We were updated today personally by Steve Vaughan and Chris Holland. They were both down and gave us where we were," Blackett said.
"They explained about filing a second notice of intention to appoint the administrators. They talked about interested parties. They were very honest with the group and positive at the same time as well as being honest.
"At the moment, everything they have said to us has always been 100 per cent truth and have got the full backing of everyone here.
"They have given us nothing to say that they are not being completely honest. We are completely behind them. There is a feeling here that we are all in this together. It's not an 'us and them', that's for sure."
Read more:
50 Welsh rugby matches cancelled as clubs struggle to field teams and reveal what's really happening
Wales internationals made unemployed with immediate effect
The many problems of Scarlets and Cardiff right now amid fan unhappiness
