London Irish braced for mass exodus as rivals line up to raid club
ondon Irish are on the brink of suspension from the Gallagher Premiership, with rival clubs already lining up deals for Exiles players and staff.
Bath are understood to have made strong overtures towards flanker Tom Pearson, who is firmly on England’s radar for the World Cup training camps. Captain Matt Rogerson is thought to have been eyed up by Northampton, while a string of suitors will be ready to pounce on England back-three star Henry Arundell.
Irish are expected to miss today’s deadline to complete their long-mooted takeover, or at least prove full funding for the 2023-24 season to the RFU.
Owner Mick Crossan has had the option to confirm another season’s funding, but the Powerday founder is not expected to deliver a stay of execution for the club.
Irish are more than £30million in debt, so should the takeover fail and Crossan not continue to support the club, then the Exiles will likely fold.
The consortium of former NFL and NBA stars aiming to buy the club have failed to provide any details to the RFU on the source of funding, with fears growing steadily that the takeover bid had not secured sufficient financial backing.
Irish are now staring down the barrel of joining Wasps and Worcester as the third Premiership club to go out of business in the single most damaging and depressing season in English top-flight history.
The loss of Irish would leave as many as 250 players out of contract and seeking new clubs in the most turbulent recruitment market yet.
Irish’s most high-profile stars will be back in work quickly, but a nucleus of talented and committed players could face a battle to secure their futures.
The expected demise of Irish will bring down the club ahead of its 125th anniversary, and at a time when the Exiles had finished fifth — their highest league placing since 2009. The club’s much-vaunted and highly productive academy would also need to be taken under RFU control.
Premiership chiefs will be left with no choice but to accelerate plans to cut the division to 10 teams should Irish now drop out of the league structure.
That will most likely leave promotion and relegation off the table again, although plans for the second-tier Championship cannot take full shape until the Irish situation is resolved. A 10-team Premiership will remove club and country fixture clashes, but the top flight could take years to recover from this most destructive of campaigns.