PONTYPOOL RFC are victim of an "abuse of power" by the WRU the High Court in London heard today.

The claim was made as the club took its legal battle against forced relegation to the High Court in London.

The historic Gwent side faces being demoted to a newly formed Championship under a major restructuring of the game by the WRU.

But the club says it is the victim of an "abuse of power" by the WRU which, it claims, has allowed "third party commercial entities" to effectively buy places for other clubs.

At the High Court, its lawyers are asking a senior judge, Sir Raymond Jack, to force the WRU to rethink its decision and reinstate the club to the top league.

The club's owner, Frank Stanton, and other backers have already had to give a formal assurance that they will be able to cover the WRU's court costs if Pontypool loses the case, due to fears over finance.

Opening the trial this morning, Ian Rogers, the club's barrister, said the WRU had broken rules under which clubs would be selected for the downsized Premiership.

Pontypool had satisfied stadium standards criteria, obtaining an A Licence, but were dropped from the planned new Premiership because of other factors.

That was despite other clubs missing out on the deadline to achieve A Licence standards at their stadia and then being included in the new league.

"This is a case about abuse of power by a sports governing body, which appears to consider its decisions to be in practice beyond the reach of the courts," he said.

"It agrees rules for selection of clubs for a league, which have an enormous financial and reputational impact on those clubs and the professional livelihoods they support, but then does not follow them.

"It adopts interpretations of rules which are absurd and plainly designed to suit the outcome it wishes to achieve.

"In purporting to apply the rules of selection, it in fact applies one rule for one group of clubs and a different rule for another.

"Having completed the selection of clubs for a competition, purportedly in accordance with agreed rules, it succumbs to pressure and offers of money from third party commercial entities, who are effectively allowed to buy places in the league for clubs that were not selected.

Mr Rogers said that, after deciding on a 10-team Premiership, the WRU had succumbed to pressure from regional clubs, Ospreys and Scarlets, to extend the league to 12, adding Carmarthen Quins and Bridgend Ravens.

Throughout the selection and subsequent appeal process, the WRU acted "unfairly, arbitrarily and capriciously" towards Pontypool, in abuse of its position, he continued.

"Ultimately, the defendant abandoned league rules and its duty of fairness to the Premiership clubs, because two of the most powerful and influential regional sides were offering to pay for the costs of adding their preferred clubs to the Premiership," said the barrister.

The hearing, expected to last three days, continues.