THE RFU are holding a two-day conference this week to discuss the state of rugby in England, with the status of fallen clubs Worcester Warriors, Wasps and London Irish one of the major talking points.
There are reports that the three clubs, all of which entered administration, could return to a revised Championship league by the start of the 2025-26 campaign.
The Telegraph reported on Monday that Premiership Rugby and RFU are looking to find a "creative solution" to ensure that Warriors, Wasps and Irish can be saved from extinction by potentially bringing them back into a new-look second tier; 'Prem 2'.
The hope is that the launch of the Premiership Rugby Cup next season – involving matches between Premiership and Championship sides – will provide a closer link between the two leagues, with a view to a new-look Prem 1/Prem 2 system.
Warriors and Wasps both know that if they are to 'return from the dead', they must start from the bottom of the rugby structure, providing they meet RFU guidelines.
At this moment in time, Warriors' Atlas owners - Jim O'Toole and James Sandford - have not yet come to an agreement with the RFU to return to the league structure.
They still harbor ambitions to merge with Level 5 club Stourbridge Rugby under the Worcester Warriors name but sources close to the Worcester News suggest that the proposal is 'dead in the water' and no vote has yet been had or is planned amongst their members.
Atlas' Jim O'Toole did state that there would be a Fan Forum event at Sixways this month (June) following their takeover at the start of May, but there remains no progress on that.
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