Pirates offer lifeline as call is made to pull up the gangplank

Leeds need to earn at least a draw away to Heineken Cup finalists Northampton Saints on Saturday to stand any chance of avoiding the drop, and only then will they be safe if Newcastle fail to register anything from their trip to Bath.

The Pirates can save the demoted club by defeating Worcester over two legs in the Championship play-off final, because the Cornish club have not met the criteria set out by Premier Rugby to earn promotion to the Premiership.

If they defeat Worcester on May 11 and 18, no team will be promoted, sparing either Leeds or Newcastle from relegation. Worcester are favourites but showed their vulnerability in the semi-final against Bedford before scraping through.

It is not the most conventional, nor noble way to avoid relegation, and Leeds would prefer to take matters into their own hands. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

“We’ll take it if it happens, our objective is to stay in the Premiership,” said chief executive Gary Hetherington. “Our preference is to win at Northampton to achieve that. We are certainly not relying on Cornish Pirates. The focus of Neil Back and the players is on preparing for Saturday.”

Leeds were spared in similar circumstances nine years ago when Rotherham won the second tier but did not have the facilities to join the Premiership party.

Hetherington has been an advocate in the past of ring-fencing the top division but is wary of shouting from the rooftops this week with his side favourites to finish bottom of the pile.

Nevertheless, he acknowledges that the format adopted by the Rugby Football League is one that would serve union well, particularly as only Worcester and Bristol in the Championship are considered Premiership standard clubs. Premier Rugby and the Rugby Football Union have a contract to maintain the current 12-team promotion and relegation scenario until 2016, although Premier Rugby say that is open to renegotiation.

Hetherington said: “At the end of the day, you play by the rules. If you’re bottom you get relegated. But I do think rugby league has got it right with the licencing system, giving new teams three years in the top division.”