London Welsh have confirmed they will appeal against the RFU decision barring them from elevation to the Premiership.

Last week, the RFU ruled the Exiles had failed to meet the minimum standards criteria required to be promoted, with the main concerns centring around where the club would play their home Premiership fixtures.

Head coach Lyn Jones’ men secured the Championship title at Oxford United’s Kassam stadium – the club’s preferred choice to host top-flight rugby next season – on Wednesday with 29-20 win on the night giving them a 66-41 aggregate win over the Cornish Pirates after victory in last week’s first leg.

And Welsh chairman Bleddyn Phillips insisted his team would fight tooth and nail for what is rightfully theirs.

“We shall be lodging an appeal in the very near future,” he said yesterday.

“In parallel, we are pursuing all other opportunities to make sure we can take our rightful and deserved place in the Aviva Premiership.”

Phillips had earlier insisted the club were prepared – both on and off the field – to take their place at the top-table of English rugby. “We have done all we can to prepare ourselves for this,” he said last week.

“We are not a Premiership club in the waiting, we are already there mentally and physically.

“It is about time we got back to playing top level rugby where we were in the 70s and early 80s.We are prepared for it on and off the pitch.

“We are very confident of attracting new investment in to the club – from England and Wales – in the Premiership.”