Rugby stars at troubled Worcester lose jobs after court ruling

Players and staff at troubled Worcester will have their contracts terminated after part of the Premiership Rugby club was wound up in the High Court on Wednesday.

British tax authorities are pursuing the club for unpaid tax of about 6 million ($6.8 million).

Judge Nicholas Briggs instructed that WRFC Players Ltd, a subsidiary of WRFC Trading Ltd through which players and some staff are paid, be wound up.

A winding-up petition against WRFC Trading Ltd, which remains in administration, has been suspended.

Ted Hill, Ollie Lawrence, Fergus Lee-Warner and Valery Morozov have already joined rival Premiership club Bath on loan and others will follow them out of the door, along with members of staff.

Because they had not been paid for September, all players would have been able to leave on 14 October, meaning that liquidation has brought their departure forward by nine days.

"This is the darkest day for English rugby," Worcester's director of rugby Steve Diamond wrote on Twitter.

"We thought we could turn the tanker around but it's ended up like the Titanic, sadly. The ship has sunk, the captains are nowhere to be seen."

Hill tweeted: "What an unbelievably sad day for everyone in Worcester.

"A club who meant so much to everyone has gone the direction none of us wanted it to. A place where I played my rugby from 14 years of age and met so many people who mean so much to me and my family."

Worcester's matches against Gloucester and Harlequins were cancelled on Monday and while they remain suspended from all competitions, they could be restored to the Premiership if a buyer is found by the middle of this month.

No definite decision on relegation has been made by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Premiership Rugby, although the chances of