NH club rugby
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@Bones yes
I'm not defending them. They have Farrell.It is just genuinely a view. I think they innovated and raised the bar significantly and the more "traditional" powerful rugby clubs had to seriously up their games to compete. Which was to the betterment of English club rugby.
They may well be real twats now.
Sometimes being successful for too long can breed that sort of arrogance. -
@Billy-Webb said in NH club rugby:
@MajorRage said in NH club rugby:
Holy shit, this is massive.
Saracens are the darlings of the UK rugby media! How the hell are they going to spin this!
Already seeing references to Saracens having the best player development academy - basically the pipeline for the future England team. So I think the spin is starting.
And while it is always de rigueur to have a pop at those at the top, it strikes me that Saracens actually have done a lot of good for English rugby over the recent past. They certainly seemed to have set the bar high for everyone else to chase.
I'm not close enough to it to know whether they are now overreaching and have reached the "we are the best" arrogant stage, maybe they have. I am sure though that jealousy will have a few clubs and their fans gleefully celebrating this development.But Nigel Wray is a smart bloke. I don't think this is the end of it all just yet.
I have zero inside knowledge as I pay little to no attention to UK club rugby, but I'll say this for the last few years
Saracens: Building something special, taking to next level, proper grass roots investing, results on the back of that
Media: Saracens could be the All Blacks, Saracens are amazing, Club >>>> Country,
Rest of UK Clubs: No way those fuckers are under the salary cap. No way. -
@Billy-Webb said in NH club rugby:
@Bones yes
I'm not defending them. They have Farrell. -
Your point is correct though the ECC or whatever they call the Heineken these days doesn't have some sort of salary cap as far as I am aware. There are rules about player eligibility if they transfer and what not but nothing about the club's player salarys.
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@gt12 said in NH club rugby:
So, based on our discussion so far, they'll probably not get any real punishment.
I'll bet they still make the playoffs this year.
Given that they will take this on appeal / review, I'd say you are correct gt12
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Whatever the outcome this is a bad situation for English rugby and possibly the club game in the NH as a whole. It’s like drugs in cycling, you just wonder “who else”?
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Unless you're a Times subscriber, the Walrus is an irrelevance.
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@gt12 said in NH club rugby:
So, based on our discussion so far, they'll probably not get any real punishment.
I'll bet they still make the playoffs this year.
They've receive the punishment, as recommended by an independant panel. It will be a very hard sell to stop it, mitigate maybe. Esp hard sell when the other clubs want them taken down a peg or two
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@Catogrande said in NH club rugby:
Whatever the outcome this is a bad situation for English rugby and possibly the club game in the NH as a whole. It’s like drugs in cycling, you just wonder “who else”?
I'd go with the ones making big name signings.
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You look at the squad sheet for Saracen's, the number of big names. Sure they will get player's stay due to the environment and loyalty, like the ABs, and if you want to play for England you might as well be at a winning team in the Premiership. But some of those player's must be on a relative pittance to their value, they could get at other clubs, let alone overseas.
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@Machpants said in NH club rugby:
You look at the squad sheet for Saracen's, the number of big names. Sure they will get player's stay due to the environment and loyalty, like the ABs, and if you want to play for England you might as well be at a winning team in the Premiership. But some of those player's must be on a relative pittance to their value, they could get at other clubs, let alone overseas.
They should be on a relative pittance your right.
But they aren’t. And that’s the issue.
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Saracens have been fined and had points deducted for breaching the salary cap in the last three seasons (2016-2017, 2017-2018 and 2018-2019),
The sanction that has been imposed on Saracens Rugby Club by the panel is:- a total fine of £5,360,272.31
- and a total deduction of 35 league points.
Full statements from both sides:
My understanding is that they didn't directly breach the salary cap, but had an investment structure that financially benefited the players (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/47523241) and that this has been ruled as part of their salary.
Anyone know more?
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Petulant or embarrassed?