THERE is nothing new about selling your soul in rugby.

It is almost common practice within the top two tiers of English rugby such has been the stampede to embrace rewards associated with the professional game.

In the grand scheme of things though, Newport's bid to buy-out Rotherham has to be one of the more farcical events in rugby history.

The sickening demise of Moseley, sold down the river to Oxford, is bizarre enough but a symbiosis of English and Welsh rugby clubs would have taken some swallowing.

Indeed, the justification process propped up by a kaleidoscope of spin would have been almost worth paying for.

Thankfully, Rotherham have taken a less haphazard route in their bid to secure Premiership status.

The Clifton Lane club are to share at Rotherham United's Millmoor ground next season as they try to satisfy RFU regulations.

They, however, still face a bitter fight to win their place in the promised land.

The main sticking point will be that Jim Kilfoyle's club will clearly not be the primary tenants at the Nationwide Division One outfit. Therefore, the club have called in lawyers to question the regulations in the hope of being granted Premiership status next season.

"We have committed our future to play at Millmoor," said chief executive Kilfoyle.

"That takes effect forthwith. Obviously we wanted our Clifton Lane ground to be our home but a last-minute legal hitch has prevented us from staying there.

"We hope that, the way its been done, we will satisfy the criteria but that is for the auditors and the RFU to make that decision. We hope to be playing in the Premiership next year.

"We have to define what primary tenancy is. That will all be sorted within the next week or so. We are not sure about the wording of the regulations so we hope to clarify that. I would like to think it is very likely that we'll go up but we will have to wait and see."

Rotherham's obvious frustration at being unable to develop their Clifton Lane ground led to the takeover bid from Newport owner Tony Brown. And Kilfoyle admitted, there was some possibility of a move to Wales.

"Tony Brown made the suggestion and Mike Yarlett -- Rotherham's major shareholder -- in the end declined. Of course it would have been a massive wrench but there was always a chance because you've got the two owners of the clubs involved making decisions."

With or without Brown's financial backing, however, Kilfoyle believes it is vital for Rotherham that they are awarded promotion.

"It's important for rugby, the club and the players concerned. That is what you work so hard for all year. We want to be playing in the Premiership. We've found out this year that National One is stronger than two years ago.

"Next season with Orrell and Plymouth coming in, it will be even tougher. Orrell have Wigan behind them and then you have Wakefield with Bradford Bulls.

"Exeter will be stronger and so will Worcester. Whoever comes down or whether we have to stay in it for some legal reason, it will be a dogfight."

Worcester's chief executive Geoff Cooke remains sceptical that Rotherham will make it back into the top flight for next season.

"I'm not sure how they are going to convince the RFU over primary tenancy," he said. "Rotherham United will be the primary tenants and under the regulations, that would prevent them from being promoted.

"I think, though, there is some dispute over the wording of the regulations and that is how they hope to get around it.

"I hope they do because we need to see promotion and relegation maintained. The other interesting aspect is that you now have Wasps searching for a new ground. If you go by these regulations, they now have a real problem.

"Probably, though, the only winners out of all of this will be the lawyers."

It is a sad reality of rugby today that even when you have such worthy winners of a league, they then face a legal battle to obtain rightful promotion.

People will say that they knew their ground was not up to scratch when they embarked on their promotion challenge. Fair enough.

However, it must never be forgotten that as long as you have ground-sharing clubs such as Saracens and Wasps within the Premiership - clearly not the primary tenants - the credibility of such regulations must be brought into question.

There is little doubt that there is bewildering hypocrisy within rugby. But rather than bring the game further into disrepute, it's surely time rugby's power brokers began to bang some heads together.

If not rugby faces another distasteful chapter in an already overflowing tale of injustice.