Disciplinary sanctions dished out to Medway Rugby Club have been labelled “draconian” by Deal & Betteshanger.

Medway will be relegated at the end of the season and docked 25 points at the start of
2016-17 for offences relating to the registration of overseas players as amateurs.

Deal head coach Dave Wiggins spoke out against the sanctions imposed by the Rugby Football Union. He said: “The sentence is draconian to say the least.

“What good has that done to a club that is progressive-thinking, moving forward and fourth in the league above us?

“Now you’ve knocked a club like that back for at least two seasons.

“What good has that done English rugby? I’ll bet you if that had been a Premiership club, they wouldn’t have got that. I’d put a million pounds on it.

“I am annoyed about it. OK, they’ve done wrong. But they held their hands up, they didn’t try to hide it, like some clubs have.

“If you do that, it’s a different matter but I know they haven’t. I fail to see what good that’s done anybody and I don’t think you’ve heard the end of it.”

Medway, who are currently playing two divisions above Deal, are considering an appeal and are in discussions with their legal representatives.

The London 1 South side have managed to maintain their league form, despite the off-field turmoil, winning their last three games. They host Sidcup on Saturday at Priestfields.