The Rugby Thread

[Tredman]

Saracens relegated.

Can’t help but feel this will ultimately end up with the premiership in deep shit, and potentially a whole new competition.

 

[jd1981]

Seems a bit like Turkeys voting for xmas

 

[BillyDee]

That's fucking bullshit. You can't go from a points deduction to relegation within a couple of months. Yes, Sarries were a little bit "cheeky", but Premiership Rugby were at fault for allowing the situation to occur, and have now hugely overreacted.

 

[Tredman]

Looked like they were getting a bit too close to staying up, so premiership stepped in.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

No. It looks like they were £650k over the salary cap when they got caught, and now are £1m over the salary cap having been asked to reduce it.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

I have no sympathy. Cheatriots of the rugby world.

 

[Tredman]

Not really. Most of their star players are home grown, a good number have come through their own youth setup. They broke the salary cap by trying to keep them in England (and playing for England).

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Bath did that for years and years and years. So did Leicester. (without the naughtiness)

Get them jobs (sinecures) in the area.

 

[Tredman]

Different rules and different times. And if you think Bath and Leicester didn’t break the amateur rules for years and years then I’d like to be as trusting as you.

Edit - isn’t that what Sarries we’re doing? Helping players have an opportunity to earn outside of the game?

 

[jd1981]

More concerned with the integrity of the league now. Saracens are there to complete the fixture list now. Can’t see them exerting to much effort in the league especially considering the only thing they’ve got left is Europe.
Plus if they win the European cup they can’t defend that either next season, to add to the farce there’s no salary cap in the championship either.

 

[Tredman]

Saracens deducted another 70 points because.

https://twitter.com/alastaireykyn/status/1222225662901211136?s=21

Nothing like making up rules as you go along to promote consistency.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

It seems a bit pointless to me (although not as pointless as Saracens will be).

They have stated that the relegation will happen. Why put a deduction in to ensure it, when the decision is already done?

 

[Tredman]

Get the feeling they are making it up as they go along and pushing as far as they can. Interesting to see what happens to Bristol in the near future.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Yeah - they seem to have really sprung up on the ladder since their promotion. I also have some suspicions about Exeter. They were a bang average second tier side and suddenly went nuclear.

Like we discussed before, I am damn sure that Bath, Leicester and Harlequins were all at it at the end of the amateur era (I KNOW Phil De Glanville was given a "consultancy" role at a place where I was being interviewed for a Co Sec job, they were very proud of it - and that was when Bath wouldn't have been able to pay him). I'm not sure what the endgame is here.

 

[Tredman]

Its entirely correct that clubs should follow the rules, but the hubris (if that is the correct word?) shown by the other clubs is likely to bite them in the ass in the future. I'd have less sympathy with Sarries if this were a case of a club signing players on massive contracts from other clubs (like, say Bristol), but this is a case of a club trying to keep players they had developed in the most part.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

The REAL problem is that, apart from the rule about international call-ups for England players playing outside England, the French salary cap is basically the equivalent of Premier League football versus Championship. Unless you over-pay or players are ridiculously Eddie Jones loyal, you are going to leak prime assets.

 

[Tredman]

True, got chatting to an ex-All black who plays in France and said the salaries on offer are huge compared to other countries.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

It's night and day what people like Toulouse and Clermont can pay. And you would imagine Racing is even more.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

True, got chatting to an ex-All black who plays in France and said the salaries on offer are huge compared to other countries.

can you say which ex-AB?

 

[Tredman]

can you say which ex-AB?

Yeah, it was Tawera Kerr-Barlow. Plays scrum half and came on in the 2015 final. Sat next to him on a flight to the US late last year. Nice guy - saw he wasn’t going to play many more games for the ABs and signed for La Rochelle when he was only 29. Got 4 kids so money was important I think.