After 11 long weeks, at last the Premiership returns on Friday evening. Yes, we’ve had summer tours and the Rugby Championship to keep us amused, but nothing beats the age-old enmities that English club rugby offers.
That said, there’s a pall hanging over the Premiership with the uncertainty over the future of Worcester. There are around 250 people involved with the club, and everyone’s thoughts are with them as they face an uncertain future, but let’s also spare a thought for their fans.
Whether you’re born into supporting ‘your’ club, or you find it later in life, it gets into your soul, and you feel part of a wider family, united by a common cause, and by common foes! If you follow a club, its disappearance would be unthinkable, akin to a bereavement.
That’s what’s facing Warriors fans currently, and all we can do is hope that a way can be found through this. In the whole sorry Worcester saga, Steve Diamond and his coaches are coming out of it really well, doing their bit to cheer fans up with their regular ‘Together’ messages – the future of the club will be decided off the field, but it’s hard to imagine a better man to be running the rugby side of things in these troubled times than Diamond.
Something that’s significant for all fans is that Premiership Rugby are offering their £99.99 pass, allowing us to see any games that BT Sport aren’t showing. If you are a BT Sport subscriber, then adding the pass allows every Premiership game to be watched. With three games each weekend already being televised, by my reckoning the cost of watching the other 72 regular season matches works out at less than £1.40 a pop, which is a spectacular bargain – compare that with the bad old days not so long ago when a live game was as rare as hen’s teeth! I can’t wait for Friday – let’s all hope the league still has 13 teams by then.
