Tyson Keats: Played without being correctly registered

Tony Copsey has claimed the RFU are just as responsible as London Welsh for Tyson Keats playing 10 matches without being correctly registered.

If London Welsh fail in Thursday's appeal against a five-point deduction and £15,000 fine for fielding an ineligible player then chief executive Copsey believes the RFU should also be fined.

The Aviva Premiership club maintain they cannot be held responsible for the criminal activity of former team manager Mike Scott, who gave false information to both the club and the RFU over Keats' visa.

Scott made a mistake when he applied for an ancestry visa for the New Zealand-born scrum-half but instead of resubmitting it he attempted to cover it up.

Scott told the club that a visa had been granted and he submitted false documents to the RFU, including a forged passport, in a bid to pass Keats off as having been born in England.

The original verdict described Scott, who has accepted a police caution, as a "rogue employee" but it also criticised both London Welsh and the RFU for not being more vigilant.

Copsey said: "We feel we have a very good case.

"They are holding London Welsh responsible for the actions of an individual that worked for the club who went out of his way to deceive both the RFU and the club.

"The verdict was harsh and disappointing, especially given some of the evidence about how this whole process happened. I think we should be judged by the RFU standards as much as London Welsh standards.

"We were both given false information. As a club we unearthed that false information.

"The RFU were aware of the facts as much as were - a different set of facts - and had their suspicions and did not act upon it.

"If we are going to be held up, we should be held up by their standards. They have a duty for the protection of this process as well."

Asked whether the RFU should therefore also be fined, if the London Welsh appeal fails, Copsey said: Yes. The bottom line, yes."

London Welsh also argue that the case over Keats' registration is different to other situations where clubs have fielded ineligible players because there was no "sporting advantage".

Copsey said: "The ancestry visa is a three-week process and he qualified for that. There was no reason Tyson shouldn't have been playing (except) this guy cocked up his application and tried to cover up being poor at his job.

"This is not an administration cock-up. It is not like they made a mistake under all the pressure of the time. They were deceived by an employee."

London Welsh recruited Scott, who had previously worked at Saracens and Harlequins, to help navigate the club through a quick turnaround and prepare for life in the Aviva Premiership.

The Exiles only had their place in the top flight confirmed on July 1, 2012 after a successful appeal against attempts to block their promotion from the Championship.

London Welsh were criticised in the original verdict for not having a professional management structure in place to safeguard against the actions of one "rogue employee".

Copsey claimed not many organisations would come through challenges like those set before London Welsh, which included recruiting staff, setting up home in a new stadium and preparing to play in the Premiership, the A League, the LV= Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup.

"No thought was given to the pressure the club was under during this period of time. The club had a month to prepare for the Premiership," Copsey said.

"Even through that time the club conducted itself correctly, except for this individual.

"They employed a team manager with a great reputation to a senior management position and there was trust in that person both by the RFU and London Welsh. No-one had any reason to believe anything was untoward.

"We will end up in another appeal hearing of London Welsh v the RFU over an individual's actions. Everyone has lost sight of the game's integrity."