Helping Wasps would be a 'slap in the face'

LONDON WELSH board director Jonathan Shankland says allowing Wasps to remerge from the ashes of administration and go straight into the Championship would be a "slap in the face" for other phoenix clubs who served their time in the lower leagues.

- JON NEWCOMBE

In January 2017 London Welsh were booted out of the Championship and removed from the professional game before being consigned to the bottom tier of English rugby. Like near-neighbours Richmond, the Exiles club has had to work its way back up without a leg-up from the game's governing body.

Having started up again in Herts & Middlesex Division 1, Welsh have climbed up four rungs of the league ladder to Regional 1 South Central (Level 5). Wasps, meanwhile, hope to be part of an expanded Championship if they manage to get back off the floor after going into administration in October 2022 with debts of £95 million.