BERKSHIRE RFU and Rams Chairman Andy Lynch has expressed his dismay at London Irish entering administration but is hoping to ensure a pathway for talented youngsters in the county can still be provided to the professional game.
The Exiles were suspended from league competition by the RFU last Tuesday after a proposed takeover by an American consortium fell through, and worse was to follow a day later as life-long Irish fan and owner Mick Crossan, who had supported the club for a decade, accepted administration as ‘the safest path forward for the club.’
Having been based in Berkshire since their move to the Madejski Stadium in 2000, Irish have done a huge amount in nurturing players on behalf of the RFU’s Development Player Pathway (DPP) before returning to the capital at Brentford FC in 2020.
Their work continued with the Royal County remaining a catchment centre, but Chairman Lynch is hopeful a way forward can still be found.
He said: “Everyone at Rams was deeply saddened to have seen the news about London Irish earlier this week.
“We as a club have enjoyed an excellent relationship with Exiles in recent years and have been delighted to be involved with the development of the likes of Ollie Allan (Hungerford), Lucas Brooke (St John’s Beaumont and Wellington College), Michael Dykes (Bracknell RFC and Maidenhead), Tarek Haffar and Caolan Englefield in the past two seasons.
While further back, the likes of Jacob Atkins (Forest School) and Chunya Munga (Reading Abbey and Leighton Park) have also pulled on the Rams shirt, in Jacob’s case back in the 2016/17 National Two campaign and also again in 2021/22.
“These young men were absolutely first class during their time at Old Bath Road, and our thoughts go out to them as well as all the other players, coaches, matchday staff, off-field employees, supporters, and everyone else involved with the club at this horrible time.”
He continued: “While returning to London a couple of years ago, Irish retained a place in the heart of Berkshire through the youth set-up, offering hundreds of children outstanding coaching as part of the Player Pathway programme.
“There will undoubtedly be questions about what lies ahead for these kids, but I will be doing my best as Berkshire chairman to ensure all the clubs in the county work together, in conjunction with the RFU, so no youngster, particularly those in state schools, is left behind.”
Rams CEO Gary Reynolds, a long-term advocate of aiming to increase the presence of rugby in state schools, said the National One club will look to do whatever they can to help.
He explained: “We had already appointed first-team defence coach Danny Batty (Henley College rugby lead when they were Wasps’ AASE) to a full-time role from next season to oversee the Rams’ Academy, along with his role in driving forward the Wokingham Warriors (state schools’ confederation team).
“We are now pleased to announce both Max Hayman and Zach Clow will also be coaching to offer the next steps forward for children in both Berkshire and the Thames Valley.”
First-team hooker Hayman, who learnt the sport at Newbury Blues, and wing Clow will join long-serving prop James Baker in providing expertise to the Wokingham schools affiliated with Rams as they look to foster future talent in the Berkshire and the surrounding area.
Irish are the third Premiership side after Wasps and Worcester to lose their slot among the elite since the start of the 2022/23 season, but the one which has struck closest to home, with Reynolds saying: “There is the old expression that bad things come in threes, and hopefully this is the end of it.
“As a boyhood Wasps fan, it was hard to see what happened there, but this is even harder as we know people, young lads, who are going to lose jobs at Irish.
“They are two great clubs who have both been going more than 100 years and it’s been a dreadful year for the sport. Hopefully lessons have been learnt.”
