Decision over Premiership relegation needs to be made quickly | Robert Kitson


Lack of clarity about what will happen at the end of the season is unfair to clubs, players and spectators

Anyone who watched the Premiership game between London Irish and Leicester on Sunday would have been struck by a few things. The first was the venue: how good it is to see the Exiles in their brand new home in Brentford, playing with a renewed sense of purpose. Even their snazzy green kit felt like progress, in contrast to Leicester’s away strip, which has prompted fans to ask if it was designed by a child with a set of crayons.

Equally uneasy on the eye was Leicester’s modus operandi. Even in the closing moments, with possession in their own 22 and the score 22-9, there was absolutely no thought of ball-in-hand ambition. Up went yet another box kick, with the calculation clearly being that a fumble by Irish was more likely to sneak a bonus point than attempting an ambitious length-of-the-field foray.

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