Cecil Duckworth may have been viewed as king of the conspirators inside English rugby's Bastille over the past few years.

Yesterday, though, the ruling class had to accept that there was good reason to think that there could indeed be revolutionary plotting at the very heart of professional rugby.

Worcester Rugby Club's benefactor yesterday met up with RFU officials to hand over evidence of alleged malpractice concerning Rotherham's balked promotion campaign last season.

At a time when rugby is being investigated by the Office Of Fair Trading over the issue of promotion and relegation, the news could have hardly come at a worse time for the already tarnished image of the sport's governing body and top clubs.

Duckworth alleges that influential owners of several Premiership clubs considered a payment of £68,000 per club to encourage Rotherham not to accept promotion.

The South Yorkshire outfit officially received £750,000 from the RFU as a parachute payment designed to cushion the downturn for any clubs relegated from the Premiership.

The details of the alleged deal are now in the hands of the RFU and the Evening News can exclusively reveal that the governing body WILL indeed hold a full blown inquiry into the latest scandal to rock the sport.

"I can confirm that Francis Baron, Robert Horner and I met Cecil Duckworth, the owner of Worcester Rugby Club, yesterday," said RFU management board chairman Graeme Cattermole.

"Information has been submitted by Cecil Duckworth, and this is being analysed and considered by the disciplinary officer over the next few days.

"A further statement will be made early next week. Any new evidence which is forthcoming will be given the same consideration."

Cattermole has already insisted that any clubs found guilty of conspiring to keep Rotherham out of the Premiership could be expelled or fined.

He has also appealed to any other clubs with information to come forward, insisting the RFU will deal with the matter "as a priority".

Rotherham, National One champions last year, were refused entry to the Premiership after failing to meet the RFU's ground requirements.

But the RFU stressed on Tuesday there will definitely be promotion and relegation this year providing that entry criteria is met.

Duckworth, though, believes the Premiership clubs are hell bent on keeping the elite a closed shop.

"The information was given to me by other people -- I have simply passed it on," said Duckworth.

"There is a conspiracy within the Premiership clubs' owners and that needs to be removed.

"They decided to ensure Rotherham would not come up last season. Worse still, they have agreed to do it all over again this season. That was decided at a meeting of the Premiership owners last Monday. I am incandescent about this.

"When the RFU see it, they will have absolutely no alternative but to hold an immediate investigation.

"We know the facts and I think there will be a lot more to come out of this particularly when people give evidence to an independent inquiry."

The allegations, predictably, have been denied by English rugby's elite clubs.

"There is nothing of substance in the allegations made that concerns me," said Howard Thomas, chief executive of Premier Rugby.

"I don't much care for the grizzly headlines but the only payment made as far as Premier Rugby is concerned is the parachute payment."

The denials will hold little water if the inquiry finds wrong doing and with the RFU already being shot at from one side by the OFT, there will be no escape for Premiership clubs as the governing body focuses solely on self preservation.

This time the truth could, finally, count for something.