Quote ="Little Ivor"There are now 5 sides playing in Oxford, 4 university ones and an amateur side, the Oxford Cavaliers (amateur club of Giants prop Darrell Griffin). The game is growing there and there is scope ofr it to do so more.'"
That's very good news for the sport and is part of the development from the grass roots up that is happening all over the country at the moment. Those 5 clubs are a part of the development that needs to continue regardless of what the future holds for the Quins. The two or three clubs I proposed be set up would be separate from those existing ones and would be in Championship 1 (as the South Wales Scorpions are) and would draw their squads primarily from the existing clubs like those you mentioned that were near to their particular town (this is what Scorpions did taking RLC Wales and RU players on via an open trial).
I think an important part of the process I suggested is to leave the grass roots clubs to do what they are already doing, be they in the RLC or smaller scale amateur clubs as their continued presence is vital so that the whole multi level RL chain is maintained. That way there is not a need to try to form a new community club to replace one that had been bought out and made to step up. The continued existence of the local clubs at amateur, university and schools levels then gives the new semi pro club a firmer base that in the past has all too often not been present for new expansion clubs.
