"He questioned if the Premiership would really want to lose "one of the biggest brands in club rugby"
Twitter reacts to Lawrence Dallaglio comments on Wasps travails
Wasps director and club legend Lawrence Dallaglio suggested on BT Sport on Sunday that the Rugby Football Union will have “some decisions to make” if they really wanted to treat a club with Wasps’ prestige the same as Worcester Warriors, should they go into administration. And some fans are not taking it lying down.
The former England captain was talking before the Wasps-Northampton Saints match that afternoon, as the club head into a critical week – Wasps have until Friday to acquire fresh investment and avoid going into administration. Last week Worcester Warriors were relegated from the Premiership officially, following their own administration.
Answering a question from host Martin Bayfield, Dallaglio said: “The RFU, they’ll say that any club that’s in administration has to go the same way as Worcester but the reality is, do you want to lose one of the biggest brands in club rugby, in world rugby and one of the brands that’s been one of the most successful sides in the Premiership?
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. It’s worrying times for all rugby fans. Each club is very different. I can’t really comment on Worcester and the reasons why the RFU have decided to suspend them and push them towards the Championship. They can, of course, appeal that. Many of their players are now finding employment elsewhere.”
"It's worrying times for all rugby fans"
"In terms of Wasps, it is a complex situation"
"Everyone is working around the clock to find a solution"@dallaglio8 on @WaspsRugby's fight for survival…#GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/cVHY2uIDCT
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) October 9, 2022
On 4 October, Wasps Holdings Limited filed a second notice to appoint administrators, meaning they had ten days. The club have been in consultation with HMRC over an unpaid tax bill, since August and must also repay some of the £35m in bonds they used to help finance the move from London to Coventry in 2014.
At the beginning of his comments on BT Sport Rugby Tonight, Dallaglio also said: “Wasps is a rugby club, but it is involved in five other businesses at the Coventry stadium. It’s pretty obvious that for the last three years all those businesses have been massively affected by Covid. As a result Wasps are in the situation they are.
“They have filed for administration – but they are not in administration as we speak. There are a number of offers on the table from interested parties, some of those offers are for the stadium only, some of them are for Wasps and the whole business wrapped as one. All you can do is work towards finding one of those offers that’s going to be acceptable.
“Everyone is working around the club to find the right solution for Wasps. Hopefully that will be a solvent solution, and not one where they are forced into administration. Then the RFU will have some decisions to make.”
It didn’t go down amazingly well with some sections of social media. Check out these Tweets, below.
Twitter reacts to Lawrence Dallaglio comments on Wasps travails
In response to Lawrence Dallaglio’s implication on @btsportrugby that Wasps are too big/famous/successful to go to the wall, the last major trophy the club won was the 2007/08 @premrugby Premiership. That’s 15 seasons ago.
— Jason Harris (@LargeRugby) October 9, 2022
He hinted at it last week, he’s now outright saying it. This is very dangerous & deeply inappropriate chat from Dallaglio, bordering on bringing the game into disrepute.
BT sport have to step in here, either he stops saying this stuff or they take him off the TV. It’s not on. https://t.co/3uDs55V2mI
— A View From LE2 / Elliott Butlin (@FromLe2) October 9, 2022
Good grief. Any suggestions that two teams should be dealt with different because of some sort of hierarchy is ridiculous. Wasps have to be dealt with in the same way Worcester were. https://t.co/hu2qJTPiuz
— Marcello Cossali-Francis (@Mcossalifrancis) October 9, 2022
Dallaglio basically saying wasps shouldn’t go down because he thinks they are a bigger club than Worcester? I remember Worcester winning a trophy last year, don’t remember the last trophy wasps won!
— Michael Richards (@Miker1311) October 9, 2022
16. @btsport Pundit Lawrence Dallaglio asks whether the PRL will want Wasps to go the same way as Worcester (kicked out the league) because they are “one of the most successful brands in Rugby (lol!) and one of the most successful prem sides.” Unchallenged by Martin Bayfield.
— Worcester Faithful (@WorcsFaithful) October 9, 2022
Well, of course he does. ?
Wasps is my club, I have friends who played there both as amateurs and as professionals.
I've supported them since I was 17.
If they go into administration they should have the same fate and Dallaglio can suck it up. pic.twitter.com/66wWclIIh1
— thedeadballarea (@thedeadballarea) October 9, 2022
This is horrendous biased chat from Dallaglio – particularly given Worcester have a better stadium and better fan base than “London-now-based-in-Coventry” Wasps. Get in the sea mate. https://t.co/hjVfmrgbUy
— Ben Jones (@BenJonesPR) October 9, 2022
What did you make of Dallaglio’s comments? Let us know via rugbyworldletters@futurenet.com or on our social channels.
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