DIRECTOR of rugby Dean Ryan has refused to write off London Scottish and Rotherham Titans’ chances in the play-offs despite admitting only Worcester Warriors and Bristol were ready to battle it out in the Aviva Premiership.
Warriors will travel to Richmond on Saturday to take on Scottish, while Bristol’s two-legged semi-final tie will be against Rotherham.
The top two in the Greene King IPA Championship are heavy favourites to meet in the final as they finished the regular league season more than 30 points clear of third placed Scottish.
But, after seeing London Welsh stun Bristol in last year’s final, Ryan insisted all four sides had an opportunity to win the title even if they did not meet the criteria to get promoted.
“I think the gap has confirmed where both sides are and it can open up the debate whether we should have 14 clubs in the Premiership,” Ryan said.
“It is quite clear that, to prepare for the Premiership, we need to resource to the levels which ourselves and Bristol have done otherwise you have no chance when you go in and the London Welsh scenario has proved that.
“Whichever side finds form in these next few weeks will be victorious.
“If ourselves and Bristol find ourselves in the final – then there are two sides that have prepared, but let’s not write off London Scottish and Rotherham because rugby is a fantastic game that starts at 0-0 and there have been a succession of play-off games which have gone wrong for people.”
However, Ryan said Warriors, who lost 30-26 to Bristol on Saturday, were ready for the play-offs as they bid to secure an immediate return to the top flight.
“If you had asked me six months ago where I would want to be at this point, I would have said I want to be predominately injury-free, feel like we are in form and have a reasonable idea of the people who were going to play over the next three or four weeks,” he added.
“I think we are in that shape now, but the key is responding to the pressure of what we are going to face over the next four or five weeks and playing at our optimum.”