Diamond still has faith as Falcons battle on

THE Premiership’s bottom two sides, Newcastle and Exeter, faced each other at Kingston Park on Friday night – a match which ended in victory for the Falcons – with talk of relegation back on the Premiership menu.

- PAUL REES

The club that finishes 10th will meet the Championship winners in a home-and-away play-off, but only if the side seeking promotion fulfils the minimum-standards criteria.

The criteria have long been a source of frustration for aspiring Championship clubs who see them as a means of keeping them out of the top flight or facing the prospect of going bust, like London Welsh in the 2010s, spending millions of pounds to meet the conditions and getting immediately relegated with a fatal drop in income.

The creteria have been relaxed this year. Championship clubs have four years to meet the stipulated ground capacity of 10,001 but they only have until the end of January to submit detailed proposals of how they would meet the conditions. A concern is that planning permission is unlikely to have been granted by then meaning only Doncaster, the one side in the second tier that satisfied the conditions last season, will be a play-off candidate.

The Championship will be expanded to 14 clubs from 12 from next season. Three Premiership sides who went bust two years ago, Wasps, Worcester and London Irish, could be fast-tracked into it if they reform rather than starting life again at the bottom, the fate of Richmond, London Scottish and London Welsh in the past, but only the Warriors currently have a ground.

The move to bring them back has more detractors than supporters, but what they would bring is ambition. There would be less chance of a reprieve for the Premiership’s bottom side and it was not a good look for the top flight last season when Newcastle survived despite not winning a match.

The Falcons lost their first four matches this season, extending their losing streak to 25 in a run stretching back to March last year. Their director of rugby Steve Diamond believes the side that finishes bottom will face a play-off and has no time for those who say Newcastle are not worthy of their place in the Premiership.