A Farcical Finish

By Brian Dick on Jun 12, 08 12:17 PM in

If I ever possessed the desire, or indeed the intellect, to become a lawyer I would base my specialism on the old Barber's Maxim that suggests no matter what happens to the economy people will still need their hair cutting.

The same principle applies to rugby union and litigation. As long as there's an oval ball and H-shaped posts they'll be some club or player that needs a brief. My children would never go hungry.

And so it proves again this year. While the climax to the National One season came several weeks ago the standings have still not been finalised. The players have packed up their kitbags and gone on holiday but the suits are fighting with the vigour one would expect from a relegation threatened team defending its goal-line.

Two West Midlands clubs are at the heart of the action. The fates of Pertemps Bees and Coventry hang in the balance. The blood, sweat and tears shed over the course of eight months and 30 games is rendered insignificant when compared to the cases argued by the club's hired legal guns.

Bees' situation centres around the disputed outcome of a match with Cornish Pirates that happened nearly six months ago.

Russell Earnshaw's men lost that match but feel the result was compromised by the fact five minutes were played with uncontested scrums because of Pirates' inability to field adequate front row replacements.

A couple of weeks after the event First Division Rugby docked Pirates three of the four match points their 27-23 victory earned.

Bees appealed to FDR but had their case thrown out. They took their argument to the Rugby Football Union who agreed FDR had not gone through due process.

FDR looked again recently and decided they did not have the power to make a final decision so Bees have gone back to the governing body and are waiting for a definitive verdict. June 23 is the favoured date.

If only British tennis players could keep rallies up for as long it'd be them and not Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer we'd all be talking about.

If you think that's convoluted ponder the Coventry situation. They were seemingly sailing along serenely - if you can serenely go through three head coaches, until they were placed into administration unable to satisfy creditors.

Phoenix like they rose from the ashes and continued without missing a beat - apparently unscathed by and free from around £700,000 of debt.

But the RFU are looking at the situation now and are making the club jump through all manner of hoops to prove they have a viable future. The talk of punishment by relegation, probably rugby club gossip, will not go away.

The upshot of both cases is that we have not just two clubs uncertain of which division they will be in next season - but several.

If Bees are awarded the win it will be Sedgley Park and not them who drop into National Two. If Coventry are sent tumbling down clubs like Nuneaton are hopeful of a stay of execution. What a mess it all is.

Exactly who is to blame is not clear. FDR did not serve the game well by failing to give the Bees matter proper attention in the first place.

The RFU initially accepted Coventry's move into administration only to decide later they needed a closer look.

Throw into cocktail plans to reduce National One to 12 teams and who knows where that leaves us.

Is it too much to ask that laws governing uncontested scrums and administration are laid down before an entire season has been played?