MALVERN Rugby Club president David Robins says he fears for the future of the grassroots game after England’s failure at the World Cup.

The revenue stream at their Spring Lane headquarters “will be severely affected” in the short term by England’s early exit, according to Robins.

He also claims the long-term effects on the amateur game will be great because new players won’t be inspired by Stuart Lancaster’s side, who bowed out at the group stages.

But county rivals Droitwich, who play in the same division as Malvern in Midlands Two West (South), have seen a growth in player numbers during the tournament.

Droitwich chairman David Warner said: “No-one can pretend England’s results were not disappointing for rugby in this country but we have been very successful in our World Cup promotions and have kept to our word of showing every game live in the clubhouse.

“Eight new players have joined us at senior level since the World Cup started.

“Four of those had not played the sport since they were children and were inspired and stimulated by the World Cup. Eight new players in four weeks is a fantastic number.”

None of the home nations are in the Twickenham semi-finals with South Africa facing New Zealand on Saturday (4pm) and Argentina meeting Australia on Sunday (4pm).

Malvern’s Robins said: “Our revenue stream will be severely affected by England’s early exit from the World Cup.

“Without England in the knockout stages, there won’t be so much interest in attending the big-screen showings of games at the club, which has an immediate detrimental effect on our bar takings.

“We would normally expect more than 150 people but we will be lucky to get half that number now.

“Having failed to make an impact at their own World Cup, I can see the RFU diverting more money over the next four years at the expense of the lower levels of the game.

“Amateur sports clubs do not exist by chance. They exist through the dedication of members and the support of fund raisers and sponsors.

“The loss of an expected legacy from an England success will do nothing to redress the steady loss of players over several years that has been experienced by rugby clubs.

“Despite figures produced by the RFU, there are fewer players in the game now than when England won the World Cup in 2003.”

Droitwich chairman Warner said they hope to bring forward the kick-off time in Saturday’s home match against Banbury to 2pm to allow players to watch the South Africa semi-final. Malvern visit Leamington on Saturday.

“All clubs were encouraged by the RFU and World Cup organisers to get behind England with lots of promotional materials and we have built our World Cup promotions around that,” said Warner.

“The England and Fiji game was very well supported and the England and Wales game was phenomenal and exceeded my wildest dreams.”

Warner revealed Droitwich were considering organising a children’s Hallowe’en-themed treasure hunt around the club to tie in with a live screening of the World Cup final on October 31.