STATEMENT: Wasps announce plans to return next season, set to play at ex-Premier League stadium

The six-time Premiership champions entered administration in October 2022 with debts of £95m. However, the RFU has invited applications to join the revamped Championship, which will expand from 12 to 14 teams for the 2025/26 season.

Owner Chris Holland expressed his optimism: "Our focus has always been on returning Wasps to a league that aligns with our values and allows us to compete at the highest level. Submitting our expression of interest for Tier 2 is a major step in our recovery."

Wasps, previously based in High Wycombe and Coventry, are eyeing a return to their heartland in the southeast, with plans to set up near Kent or Greater London.

Initial reports suggest the team could ground-share with former Premier League football club Charlton Athletic at The Valley, southeast London, if their Championship bid succeeds. Though just outside Kent, Charlton’s fanbase stretches into the county, where only Gillingham competes in the EFL.

Could you imagine having Jonah Lomu, Jason Robinson and Brian O'Driscoll all in the same team?`

Well that's what England legend Jonny Wilkinson has done in naming his all-time dream team. 

1. Jason Leonard (England): He was seen by Wilkinson as “someone who inspired and brought energy to the game” with impact.

2. Keith Wood (Ireland): “You need someone here in this position who can bring you the set piece control but at the same time I think they need to be aggressive, be someone that runs hard, someone that doesn’t stop, never gives up.”

3. Craig Dowd (New Zealand): “As with all tight heads what you want is someone who doesn’t take no for an answer, someone who is maybe a little quieter but someone you just don’t mess with”

4. Bakkies Botha (South Africa): "Someone incredibly fierce but very very down to earth” and “at times he’s exactly what a team needs.”

5. Martin Johnson (England): “intelligent, another massive leader, gets himself around the park. My captain"

6. Richard Hill (England): “A guy that stood the test of time and has remained at the best, the highest level of the game for that time.”

7. Richie McCaw (New Zealand): “A guy that stood the test of time and has remained at the best, the highest level of the game for that time.”

8. Pat Lam (Samoa): “He was one of the most creative, instinctive players as well as bringing his own brand of leadership and the way he saw the game.”

9. Gary Armstrong (Scotland): “The sheer aggression and resilience of the guy, his sheer character meant that anything, any ball that wasn’t good enough to go out to the number ten was never going to go out to the number ten. He would deal with everything himself and that meant control of the game”

10. Lynagh, Carter, Larkham, Stransky, Fox: “This is the key position for any World Cup winning team. You need guys that are going to lead and continue to do so right to the final seconds when it gets very, very tough. I can't just pick one."

12. Tim Horan (Australia): “A guy that knew how to win, knew how to play the game. His body language suggested he didn’t really know how to fail or what mistakes were, what under performance was.”

13. Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland): “The ability to change the game in a second, a heartbeat, with his movement, with his skill, his game reading but also his leadership.”

11. Jonah Lomu (New Zealand): “The guy is quite a remarkable rugby legend and deserves to be so. No Rugby World cup team would be complete without him.”

14. Jason Robinson (England): “His flair, his game reading, his sheer explosivity to really change a game is something that sticks in my memory. We wouldn't have won the World Cup without him,”

15. Serge Blanco (France): "He typified French rugby at its best with his audacity, ambition and flair. He was most famous for his scintillating counter-attacks, frequently running the ball out of seemingly impossible situations."