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Aviva Premiership: Saracens leading movement to abolish 'outdated' salary cap

Edward Griffiths: The Saracens chief executive is leading calls to scrap the Aviva Premiership cap.
Image: Edward Griffiths: The Saracens chief executive is leading calls to scrap the Aviva Premiership cap.

Saracens are leading a movement to scrap the Aviva Premiership salary cap, with chief executive Edward Griffiths revealing they have the backing of six other clubs.

Cap restrictions have been in place since 1999, with the stated aim of ensuring financial viability among all clubs and promoting a meritocracy.

The cap is currently £5m per club and will rise by £500,000 for next season, when clubs will also be able to nominate two marquee “excluded players.”

It would be a pity if the world’s top players light up the World Cup on English soil, and then leave to play club rugby in France.
Edward Griffiths, Saracens CEO

With the World Cup in England next year, many European clubs are positioning themselves for an influx of top Southern hemisphere stars looking to secure lucrative deals for next season.

New Zealand star Dan Carter has already agreed a £1.3m-a-year contract with wealthy French club Racing Metro, while Australia back Adam Ashley-Cooper is to join Bordeaux-Begles.

Restricted

Griffiths believes English rugby will be left behind if Aviva Premiership teams are restricted in their bids to land these stars.

“The combination of England hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and Sevens featuring in the 2016 Olympic Games creates a historic but fleeting platform for rugby union to grow dramatically,” Griffiths said.

“We must release the handbrake and step on the accelerator. It would be a pity if the world’s top players light up the World Cup on English soil, and then leave to play club rugby in France.

“If the salary cap is left to forbid the required investment, it will kill any hope of growth.”

English teams initially thrived in Europe following the introduction of the cap as they racked up four wins in five years between 2000 and 2004.

However, as the professional game has evolved, they have struggled to sustain that success in the decade since.

Wasps recorded England's lone success in the Heineken Cup during that period, in 2006, as the competition was dominated by Irish and French teams, who won five and four titles respectively.

Griffiths feel English clubs are being undermined by their inability to compete financially with their European rivals and says wage inflation is inevitable, with or without the cap.

“English clubs must compete in the European Champions Cup against Irish and French clubs spending two or three times as much on players,” Griffiths said.

“Imagine the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City being asked to compete with Barcelona, FC Bayern and Real Madrid under those circumstances.

“It would never happen, but it happens in rugby. Strong legal opinion suggests the salary cap, as applied, breaches European competition laws.

'Second rate'

“We understand some clubs fear the removal of the salary cap will cause wage inflation yet, in reality, salaries are already being driven by the French clubs. We can either sit back and become a second rate ‘lowest common denominator’ league, or we can leap forward.”

Griffiths also fears the English national side could be damaged if the cap remains in place.

English clubs must compete in the European Champions Cup against Irish and French clubs spending two or three times as much on players.
Edward Griffiths, Saracens CEO

Under the current policy, overseas players are not considered for selection and that has led to the exclusion of reigning ERC European Player of the Year Steffon Armitage from Stuart Lancaster’s plans.

Griffiths feels more players may join Armitage if the cap remains in place and believes the current system is unfair to the ones who turn down lucrative offers in order to stay behind so they can represent their country.

“We must be fair to England international players, who are encouraged to play club rugby in England to be eligible for the national team,” Griffiths said.

“Their salaries should be determined by the free market, nothing less. It is simply unfair, inequitable and possibly illegal for their pay to be restrained by the artificial mechanism of an outdated salary cap.”

The matter will be discussed at the next Premiership Rugby Ltd (PRL) shareholder meeting on February 4, 2015.

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