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• London Irish suspended as takeover deal collapses

  London Irish have been suspended from rugby union’s entire league structure after becoming the third Gallagher Premiership club to collapse this season.

  The Rugby Football Union has confirmed that neither Irish’s owner Mick Crossan nor the American consortium planning to buy the club were able to prove they had the finances to compete in the top flight for the 2023-24 campaign.

  Furthermore, the outstanding 50 per cent of May’s payroll owed to staff and players has not been paid before the final deadline set by the RFU of 4pm on Tuesday.

  It means that Irish join Wasps and Worcester in becoming a casualty of the financial crisis gripping the Premiership, which will now become a 10-team competition.

• London Irish’s highs and lows as the club face suspension

  London Irish have been suspended from the Gallagher Premiership following a failure to provide financial guarantees for next season.

  Founded 125 years ago, the Exiles’ future is grim as their demise follows former Premiership rivals Wasps and Worcester entering administration earlier this term.

  Here, the PA news agency looks at some of Irish’s highs and lows.

  Highs

  History-making cup of joy

  Irish won the first major trophy in their history when they lifted English rugby’s knockout cup by crushing Northampton 38-7 at Twickenham in 2002. The Saints fielded 14 internationals, headed by the likes of Matt Dawson, Paul Grayson and Ben Cohen, but they had no answer to Irish’s brilliance as wing Justin Bishop and centre Geoff Appleford claimed try doubles. It was the second-biggest winning margin in a final during the competition’s 34-year existence as the Exiles followed previous winners Gloucester, Coventry, Bedford, Gosforth, Leicester, Bristol, Bath, Harlequins, Saracens, Wasps and Newcastle.

  Making a mark in Europe

  Although they did not win silverware, Irish certainly made their presence felt in European rugby union’s premier club competition – the Heineken Cup – in 2008. Irish had never previously reached the tournament’s knockout phase, but they cruised through the pool stage by winning five of their six games and scoring 25 tries. French challengers Perpignan were defeated in the quarter-finals, which secured a last-four clash against tournament heavyweights Toulouse at Twickenham. Irish went down 21-15 but a 30,000 crowd looked on, with the Exiles confirming a place at Europe’s top table.

  State-of-the-art training facility

  Irish moved into a new £12million training complex – the Hazelwood Centre in Sunbury-on-Thames – on July 1, 2014. The 63-acre site was converted from a nine-hole golf course and was four times the size of Irish’s previous training facility. Comprising 17 pitches, including five full-size ones that also featured an artificial surface, it soon attracted widespread interest. Hazelwood was used as a training base by Wales and Fiji during the 2015 Rugby World Cup, while its facilities have also attracted teams like the New York Jets and Leeds Rhinos.

  Lows

  Relegation from the Premiership

  Irish lost their status as a club in English rugby’s top flight when they were relegated at the end of the 2015-16 campaign. The Exiles won only four of their 22 league games, finishing seven points behind 11th-placed Newcastle. It was the first time since the Premiership began in 1997 that they had been demoted. Chief executive Bob Casey told Irish’s official website: “This is a sad day in the history of this great club. Relegation was not part of our plans but we have to be honest, as hard as the players and management have worked, we haven’t been good enough this season.”

  The darkest day of all

  Burdened by debts of around £30million, Irish failed to meet an extended Rugby Football Union deadline of Tuesday for either a proposed takeover by an American consortium to be completed or for owner Mick Crossan to prove he could finance Irish for the entire 2023-24 season. All staff must also have been paid the outstanding 50 per cent of wages owed for May, while the club faced an additional hit of an HM Revenue and Customs winding-up petition for unpaid tax. Nine months after the Premiership season started with 13 teams, three have now been lost.

  Star names to depart?

  A seemingly inevitable accompaniment to Irish’s Premiership suspension will be key players heading through the exit door. Irish have previously flourished by developing one of the most impressive and prolific academies in English rugby, nurturing internationals like Anthony Watson, Alex Corbisiero and Topsy Ojo. That trend has continued through players such as 20-year-old England Test players Henry Arundell and Will Joseph, with Cardiff Met product Tom Pearson, who was last month named Premiership breakthrough player of the season, another richly-talented performer. A significant squad break-up looms.

• Scott Boland edges Michael Neser for place in Australia XI for WTC against India

  Australia’s Scott Boland has been given the nod to take on India in this week’s World Test Championship, edging out Michael Neser.

  Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the showpiece at the Kia Oval with a side injury, leaving Boland and Neser fighting for the final spot in Australia’s pace attack.

  Boland held the edge having been named in the initial squad, but Neser’s strong form with Glamorgan in the LV= County Championship made him an intriguing option in English conditions.

  Captain Pat Cummins did not leave the pair waiting to find out, though, confirming Boland’s selection on Tuesday morning.

  The 34-year-old made a stunning introduction to international cricket during the 2021-22 Ashes series, taking six for seven in the Boxing Day Test the MCG to seal the series. He has already taken 28 wickets in seven Tests and averages a remarkable 13.42.

  “Someone like Scotty, it’s just a really simple game-plan – you hit your good areas and you stay there all day and hopefully the ball will do the work for you,” Cummins told Australian reporters.

  “He’s had a few bowls over here now and has looked good. But he looks good whenever he bowls. Scott is a seam bowler on a good length, but he just offers something slightly different to Joshy Hazlewood, and Starcy (Mitchell Starc). Being a left-hander is bit different.

  “In the past here in England, because the ball does talk a little more, I’ve seen players get too caught up in trying to take wickets every ball because you’ve suddenly got the ball swinging and seaming.”

  Australia are expected to revert to their preferred team balance after shifting the make-up of their XI in their most recent series in India.

  That means five specialist batters, Cameron Green as all-rounder, Alex Carey behind the stumps, three fast bowlers and first-choice spinner Nathan Lyon.