RFU STATEMENT: London Irish extension will be 'withdrawn'

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has given owner Mick Crossan the opportunity to meet the payroll deadline, failing which an extension for the completion of the takeover will be revoked.

Initially, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope on Tuesday when Crossan appeared to commit to fulfilling the May salaries, amounting to approximately £500,000. In response, the RFU was willing to grant additional time for the takeover to be finalized.

However, a change of heart from Crossan emerged late in the day. He offered the players only 50% of their May salaries, with a vague promise that the remainder would be covered by the new American consortium.

In response to these developments, the RFU club financial viability group convened on Tuesday evening. They acknowledged that the conditions set by the RFU had not been met and considered the request for an extension to the deadline.

The group decided to postpone their decision for 24 hours to ascertain whether the club can fulfill its commitment to paying staff for the month of May. They will reconvene that evening to discuss further.

“The RFU club financial viability group met Tuesday evening. It noted the conditions set by the RFU had not been met and considered the application for an extension to the deadline,” an RFU statement on Wednesday morning read.

“It was agreed to defer the decision for 24 hours to establish if the club is able to honour the commitment it has made to staff that they will be paid for the month of May. The group will meet again this evening.”

If the Exiles manages to pay all its staff, including notable players like Henry Arundell and Tom Pearson, by the designated day, it is likely that an extension of approximately one week will be granted to facilitate the finalisation of the takeover by the American buyers.

Speedster Arundell has been linked to Bath, while Pearson is thought to have numerous teams interested in his services.

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One fan wrote: "Saw the All Blacks B squad was named today,"

The hostility between the two groups of fans originated last summer when Ireland achieved a clean sweep victory over New Zealand on their home soil.

ow, let's examine the squads of Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales, focusing on the players who were born outside their respective countries.

So far, a staggering total of 52 players have switched nationalities.

Rob Herring, hooker, South Africa

Finlay Bealham, prop, Australia

Joe McCarthy, lock, USA

Kieran Treadwell, lock, England

Jamison Gibson-Park, scrum-half, New Zealand

Bundee Aki, centre, New Zealand

Mack Hansen, winger, Australia

James Lowe, winger, New Zealand

The 41-plaayer group will be led by captain Jamie Ritchie and will be trimmed to the requisite 33-player list ahead of the tournament itself, which gets underway in France in September.

They will initially gather for an initial training camp on 29 May to begin preparations for warm-up matches in the Famous Grouse Nations Series against France, Italy and Georgia at BT Murrayfield in July and August. Scotland also play France in an away warm-up in St. Etienne in August.

The Rugby World Cup itself will see Scotland compete in Pool B alongside South Africa, Ireland, Tonga and Romania, with a first fixture against the world champion Springboks on Sunday 10 September in Marseille.

Some fans have mocked the squad, with one saying "That's more like a Barbarians squad than a Scotland squad," another stating "Nice to see some Scots in there for once," and a third jokingly saying "I'm backing South Africa B to do well at the World Cup."

Ewan Ashman, hooker, Canada

WP Nel, prop, South Africa

Pierre Schoeman, prop, South Africa

Javan Sebastian, prop, Wales

Cameron Henderson, lock, Hong Kong

Sam Skinner, lock, England

Andy Christie, back-row, England

Jack Dempsey, back-row, Australia

Hamish Watson, back-row, England

Ali Price, scrum-half, England

Ben White, scrum-half, England

Ben Healy, fly-half, Ireland

Chris Harris, centre, England

Cameron Redpath, centre, France

Sione Tuipulotu, centre, Australia

Kyle Steyn, winger, South Africa

Duhan van der Merwe, winger, South Africa

Hame Faiva, hooker, New Zealand

Marco Manfredi, hooker, Germany

Ivan Nemer, prop, Argentina

Dino Lamb, lock, England

Dave Sisi, lock, Germany

Toa Halafihi, flanker, New Zealand

Sebastien Negri, flanker, Zimbabwe

Martin Page-Relo, scrum-half, France

Stephen Varney, scrum-half, Wales

Ignacio Brex, centre, Argentina

Monty Ioane, wing, Australia

Paolo Odogwu, wing, England

Ange Capuozzo, fullback, France

Will Davies-King, prop, England

Tomas Francis, prop, England

Henry Thomas, prop, England

Ben Carter, lock, England

Will Rowlands, lock, England

Christ Tshiunza, lock, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Taulupe Faletau, number 8, Tonga

Dan Lydiate, flanker, England

Josh Macleod, flanker, Monaco

Gareth Anscombe, fly-half, New Zealand

Max Llewellyn, centre, England

George North, centre, England

Nick Tompkins, centre, England

Johnny Williams, centre, England

Alex Cuthbert, wing, England