Newcastle drop London Welsh appeal

Newcastle have announced they will not appeal the decision to grant London Welsh promotion to the Aviva Premiership and relegate the Falcons.

Last week Championship winners London Welsh won their appeal against a Rugby Football Union decision to block their promotion.

The decision condemned the Falcons, who finished bottom of the top flight, to the drop.

A statement on the north-east club’s website read: “Newcastle Falcons confirm there will be no appeal of the decision made by the independent panel to uphold London Welsh’s appeal and relegate the Falcons to the Championship.

“We are now looking forward to an exciting new era under the guidance of incoming director of rugby Dean Richards. His first league game in charge will be Bristol on the weekend of Saturday, 1 September.”

London Welsh were originally denied the right to go up after being told they had failed to meet the minimum standards required of a Premiership club, in particular the requirement for primacy of tenure.

That meant London Welsh were not allowed to share the Kassam Stadium with Oxford United even though three Premiership teams co-habit with football clubs.

London Welsh argued the primacy of tenure rule breached UK and European competition law and the independent panel ruling on the matter agreed.