News from First Division Rugby Ltd
New Chairman Elected
At the FDR Board meeting held on 2nd July 2008,
Geoff Irvine of Bedford Blues was elected as Chairman for 2008-09 in succession
to Dr David Hammond. The Board placed on record their grateful thanks to David
for his excellent service to FDR during the past eight years. Geoff Irvine will
also replace David as the FDR representative on the RFU Council.
Coventry cleared to play on in National League One
The Rugby Football Union today confirmed that Coventry can play on in National League One next season.
Coventry RFC Ltd had been given until midday on July 3 to satisfy various obligations, which included the continuous use of Butts Park Arena, and raise a sufficient sum of money to provide a bond acceptable to the RFU. The obligations have been met and the £52,597 so far raised by supporters towards the bond has secured the club’s status.
“We
have worked closely with Coventry RFC Ltd and others over several months and we
are delighted that the club has now met the necessary obligations and provided a
bond acceptable to the Union,” said Martyn Thomas, the chairman of the RFU
Management Board.
“The great effort made by Coventry’s supporters to raise the money needed says a
great deal about the esteem in which the club is held and we now hope that they
can move on and enjoy a successful season in National League One.”
Pertemps Bees Appeal
The appeal relates to a match in January against Cornish Pirates when the
referee declared uncontested scrums for a period of 5 minutes in the second half
due to Cornish Pirates inability to provide sufficient experienced front-row
players who could safely participate in contested scrums. Cornish Pirates were
subsequently judged to have breached FDR and RFU regulations and were deducted 3 league
points by FDR. Pertemps Bees believe that the result of the match should be reversed and the league points awarded to them.
An RFU appeal panel meeting in London on Mon 23rd June finally dismissed
the appeal. Pertemps Bees are therefore relegated to National Two for season
2008-09 and the previously published fixture list for National One is now
confirmed
EDF Energy National Trophy Final
Northampton Saints completed
the league and cup double on Saturday 12th April after a hard fought 24-13 victory over
rivals Exeter Chiefs in the EDF Energy National Trophy Final at Twickenham.
The Saints, recently crowned champions of Division One, ensured their season finished on a high by taking the domestic cup crown with two tries and 14 points from the boot of full back and skipper Bruce Reihana. The win completes a perfect season for the Saints who have won 28 out of 28 league matches and five out of five EDF Energy National Trophy clashes. In fact, the Saints’ last defeat in a competitive match was 13-30 to London Wasps in the European Cup semi-final last April. Skipper Reihana said: “We are delighted with the win. This was a tough game against Exeter. We set our goal to win at Twickenham and we have done that. We are now looking forward to going back into the Premiership after an off season.“
Jim Mallinder and Dorian West are very good coaches. They have helped us along the way and really pulled the team together which is what we needed.” For Exeter though, who had kept Northampton to a five point deficit at half-time, the defeat will be hard to take. Their loss in the final was their fourth in a Twickenham cup final. Exeter captain Richard Baxter added: “Northampton are a team we aspire to be and after today’s performance we are clearly not too far off it. Now we will go back and keep on improving as we too look to do what Northampton have done and get into the Guinness Premiership.”
NL1 Championship Trophy Presentation
The National League One Championship Trophy will
be presented to Northampton Saints at their final home game of the season on
Saturday 26th April; by the RFU President, Bob Taylor.
