THE wait for Worcester Rugby Club to put a promotion-winning season together was nerve-racking enough, but now thousands of fans are on tenterhooks again as the Sixways saga takes a turn worthy of a Hitchcock chiller.

Facts are facts and rules are rules. Yes, it appears that the club missed a deadline for furnishing Rugby Football Union officials with paperwork about increasing the ground's capacity to Premiership standards.

Yes, arch-rivals Rotherham - who stand to retain their Premiership place if the Warriors lose promotion as a result - fell foul of the same technicality two years ago.

Yes, we sympathise with any red-blooded Yorkshire rugby fanatic who'll cry foul at the thought of Worcester escaping the same verdict.

And we're aware that any takeover talks regarding the relegated club - rumoured to involve a South African buyout - would feel a significant shift in bargaining power.

But common sense is king, so far as a possible new unfolding crisis is concerned.

First, Rotherham's exclusion in 2002 wasn't down to the same technicality alone.

Second, the clubs boast massively contrasting facilities, infrastructure and potential.

Third, the English game needs the injection of fresh energy, passion and competition that Worcester's promotion will bring to the top flight.

We hope - and trust - that this latest twist turns out to be nothing more than a scare and that John Brain's men are battling for Premiership points, come September.

Anything else would be a travesty of justice and a defeat for the greater good.