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Elliot Daly becomes the latest major England star to publicly pledge allegiance to Saracens

By Online Editors
Elliot Daly

Elliot Daly has joined England team-mate Jamie George in publicly committing his future to Saracens in the wake of the salary cap scandal that has engulfed Allianz Park.

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The double winners will be relegated from the Gallagher Premiership in June as punishment for repeatedly breaching the £7million ceiling for player wages, placing the futures of their influential England contingent in doubt.

George has revealed he is set to stay and now Daly has pledged his loyalty despite a turbulent first season in north London having joined from Wasps last summer.

Saracens have received assurances from the Lions and England that competing in the Championship will not harm the ambitions of their internationals, but the details of what a year spent in the second tier will mean for the players are still being finalised.

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“Yeah I reckon I’ll stay, pretty similar to Jamie. I am still in contract,” said Daly ahead of Sunday’s Guinness Six Nations clash with Ireland.

“We have the rest of the season to sort it out. At the moment, I’m just thinking about the next couple of games with England and then when I get back to Saracens, we’ll start talking about next year.”

In early November Daly returned from Japan where he had helped England reach the World Cup final only to walk straight into the crisis at Allianz Park – without having played a single game for his new club.

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An initial 35-point deduction and £5.36million fine were followed by another 70-point deduction, guaranteeing their relegation.

“My first day wasn’t the best! It’s a big thing and it’s not to be taken lightly, but the way Saracens dealt with the players I thought was really good,” Daly said.

“I didn’t see this coming but I definitely don’t have any regrets joining. The way that we train, the players there, the coaching staff – it’s an amazing club to be at.

“When a club like Saracens want to sign you, the best team in Europe as they were at that time, it’s a no-brainer to go and play with some very good people.”

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Apart from moving back to the left wing where he started his Test career, Daly’s focus during the first two rounds of the Six Nations has been helping room-mate George Furbank adapt to his old position of full-back.

According to Daly, Furbank was “shocked” to learn he would be making his debut against France and – after a difficult first cap in Paris – he produced an improved performance in atrocious conditions against Scotland.

Furbank grew up wanting to be a cricketer and was at Leicestershire as a junior but he moved to rugby where a couple of years at Cambridge were followed by Chris Boyd’s arrival at Northampton.

Having been attached to Saints since his academy days, the 23-year-old Open University geography student was elevated into the starting XV by Boyd with his stellar form this season catching the eye of Eddie Jones.

“It’s a bit surreal. I’ve still only played 30 games for Saints, so even though things had been going reasonably well in the Premiership, I wasn’t really expecting a call-up,” Furbank said.

“To get it was slightly surreal in itself. I wasn’t really expecting to be involved in the first game against France at all. It was an amazing feeling.

“The nerves were well and truly going on Sunday morning. It was different to anything I’d played in front of before.

“That was all a bit crazy and potentially I let that get to me a little bit during the game, but for the Scotland week I felt more myself, more settled.”

PA

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Trevor 2 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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Bull Shark 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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