London Welsh captain Jon Mills is refusing to give up hope of the Exiles' becoming an Aviva Premiership club.
Exiles aren't giving up hope of achieving Premiership status
London Welsh captain Jon Mills is refusing to give up hope of the Exiles' becoming an Aviva Premiership club.
On Wednesday the club were told they do not meet minimum standards criteria to play in English rugby's top flight and won't be promoted even if they complete victory in the second leg of their play-off with Cornish Pirates.
The decision was confirmed by Rugby Football Union directors just six hours before they beat the Pirates 37-21 in the first leg in Penzance.
Part of failing to meet minimum standards criteria included not having primacy of tenure at their nominated Premiership ground - Oxford United's 12,500-capacity Kassam Stadium - where the second leg against Pirates will take place.
Welsh, whose chairman Bleddyn Phillips is a partner with the law firm Clifford Chance, have 14 days in which to lodge an appeal, and that process could soon get under way.
As things stand, though, Premiership bottom club Newcastle will remain among the elite next term with no promotion taking place from the second tier.
Desire
"We all aspire to get to the Premiership - we want to get London Welsh to the Premiership," Mills said.
"That is why we are here, that is why we are professionals. We want to play at the top table.
"London Welsh is a great club and should be there (in the Premiership). We are a good team."
Reflecting on the emphatic first leg triumph, Mills added: "The boys did their jobs really well. It was a really good team effort - this side will work all day for each other.
"The Pirates will come firing back at us, but we've got to look after our game. We are comfortable with our game.
"We are going to keep playing. We can't go into our shells, and the Pirates will have nothing to lose. They are going to throw the ball about and we've got to be ready for that.
"We've got to concentrate on our game and on our defence for 80 minutes, and make sure we take the attack to the Pirates. If we can score a few points quickly, it might kill the game off."
