LONDON Welsh managing director John Taylor says the club will do everything in their power to bring Premiership rugby to Oxford.

The Championship-winning Exiles yesterday confirmed they will appeal against the RFU ruling that they cannot be promoted to the top-flight.

Welsh were told they failed to meet the Minimum Standards Criteria required to go up, with not having ‘primacy of tenure’ at the Kassam Stadium a key RFU concern.

Asked whether a swift resolution was needed, Taylor said: “It is absolutely imperative.

“It is only three months to the start of next season, which is why the thought of court proceedings and the like, for all of us, is a route we don’t want to go down.

“That is not to say that we will back off, because we won’t.”

Taylor stressed it was vital for the structure of English rugby that promotion and relegation took place in the top two divisions.

He said: “Everybody knows that if the RFU want a second tier of professional rugby, they have to be seen to support it.

“The feeling is that even if we didn’t win this appeal, and we are going to fight it very, very hard, things will not be the same again.

“They will not be prepared to go through this again at the end of next season.”

In a statement, London Welsh chairman Bleddyn Phillips said: “We shall be lodging an appeal in the very near future and in parallel we are pursuing all other available opportunities to make sure we can take our rightful and deserved place in the Aviva Premiership.”

Phillips, who is a partner in the law firm Clifford Chance, will no doubt use his legal expertise in the appeal.

But he said: “It is not so much my experience in the law, it is my commitment as chairman of London Welsh that is important here and my resolve on behalf of the club, the team and the players to do all I can to make sure their efforts on the pitch are rewarded by doing all we can off it.”

Phillips spoke of the widespread backing Welsh had received and was please to see a crowd of around 4,000 at the Kassam Stadium.

“The support that we have received from Oxford locally has been tremendous,” said Phillips.

“We have had a number of people from the local area coming to support us.

“I think that crowd size for a midweek evening is very important.”