The new measures French clubs want to use to beat Premiership sides to big-name players
A marquee player system similar to the one operating in the English Premiership is being considered across the Channel in France.
Marquee players and changes to the salary cap are set to be top of the agenda at a three-day meeting of Top 14 and ProD2 club presidents in Bordeaux next week, L’Equipe reports.
Under the plan, which is said to have the support of Toulon’s Mourad Boudjellal, Bordeaux’s Laurent Marti, and Lyon’s Yann Roubert, the salary cap would be lowered by between €300,000 and €500,000 from its current €11.3million to accommodate a single high-value player on a multi-season deal. That player’s salary would not be included in the cap limit.
If approved in Bordeaux next week, the plan will go forward to the next meeting of the Steering Committee of the Ligue National de Rugby (LNR) in January. It could come into force as early as the 2019/20 season, which kicks off on the weekend of August 24, 2019.
The marquee player system could easily prove attractive to most presidents at French top-flight clubs, who are facing increasing competition for the signatures of big-name overseas players from Japan and England.
Clubs in France are again dipping heavily into the New Zealand player pool for their post-World Cup recruitment. Racing hope to attract captain Kieran Read; Toulon are chasing Sam Whitelock; while Pau’s efforts to tempt Ardie Savea to southwest France have hit reportedly a snag.
Savea had provisionally agreed to join the ambitious Top 14 club before the All Blacks‘ November tour. But regional newspaper Sud Ouest reports the player has now been offered improved terms in New Zealand. The French club could bring out the big guns in the form of an increased salary offer. But, to do that, it would need to offload a player or two from its books.
Alternatively, Pau could keep Savea’s salary outside cap constraints by listing him as a ‘marquee player’.
In England, where the salary cap is £7million (about €7.8million), clubs can sign up to two ‘marquee players’ whose wages are not included in the cap accounting.
The salary cap was introduced for Top 14 and Pro D2 clubs in France in 2010, after a player arms race in the early 2000s had led to major financial difficulties for a number of clubs. This season, the average payroll in the Top 14 is reported to be €8.5million, well below the authorised ceiling.
An earlier plan that had the backing of Toulon’s Boudjellal, would have allowed players who came up through a club’s academy for an unspecified number of years to be excluded from the cap. But it was discarded in favour of the marquee player system, L’Equipe said.
Comments on RugbyPass
I agree ..come on keyboard warriors and journalists looking for a cheap win ….. only 2 mins to go 12 points down …this DID NOT decide the game and beside JM was hit after the whistle and in response it was a pat on the back of the head …harmless ….watch soccer if this is your issue
4 Go to commentsRest is for namby pamby sissies, I see. True men should overcome their trifling injuries by playing week in, week out. Bidwell’s stance reminds me of a Jon Gadsby character from the 70s, a rugby captain giving an after-match speech: “It was a very physical contest. One of our players caught a boot on the back of his head in a ruck, and he died, actually. But to his credit, he played on.”
1 Go to commentsI still see nothing in Sotutus play that hes changed his upright running style that failed so many times against decent international defences like the french. Other than that… Iose? Well you have covered his limitations well. If Sititi had been playing the the season… Jacobson? Grace?…Neither shout pick me. So Ardie it is.
1 Go to commentsThere isn’t one element you mentioned there that every top class or successful team gets up to. The great All blacks sides used to play on the ‘fringes or edge’ but it was essentially saying they were doing something illegal or borderline to gain dominance. The fine margins at the top are minute between the top sides. La Rochelle, the crusaders, Saracens, Toulon etc etc…..have all been accused. Get over it, the comment comes across as salty and naive. Northampton as well as they played to get back into the match were thoroughly beaten and controlled for 60 minutes and Leinster have only themselves to blame for kicking it away and hence losing control of the match and being nearly the architects of their own downfall.
2 Go to commentsThere is some talent coming thru thats for sure. The 10 looks special to me. Rico Simpson is a name to look for in the future.
1 Go to commentsI think this quiet honestly is just an innocent misunderstanding by someone who is pig sh*t stupid. Eben is a fine player but by christ, if he can’t understand or get what the Irish players were trying to say to him after the match…..well i hope he has someone looking after his finances, career and is reading the fine print for him, cause life after rugby may be quite difficult for the vacuous echo chamber.
27 Go to commentsIt could be Doris' day!
3 Go to commentsThe whole thing has blown up because Eben’s words have clearly struck a nerve in Ireland. Otherwise they would just laugh it off. I think some former Irish players, commentators and some Irish fans know deep down this Ireland team started to believe its own press and that a certain amount of arrogance had started to creep in during the World Cup. The topic was actually brought up by Irish pundits on Off the Ball recently. It’s fine to be arrogant if you can back it up. Ireland didn’t.
27 Go to comments‘The Irish are good people'. Why is Goode praising a people who hate his own? Wet wipe.
27 Go to commentsLa mejor final que se puede ver en el emisferio norte.
1 Go to commentsA lot of cope from south africans in the comments. Etzebeth is a liar and a hypocrite; you don’t have to defend him!
27 Go to commentsHe got big and really slow for a flyhalf…not sure he’s relevant in a bok conversation anymore
4 Go to commentsBest tourney team vs best team in the regular season for 3 games in RSA - talk is cheap, let’s see what’s what on the tour
27 Go to commentsOne overlooked statistic from their 2016 winning season is the Huricanes are still the only team in Super rugby history not to concede a try during the playoff rounds.
4 Go to commentsThanks for the article, Nick. The Nienaber blitz D does ask a lot of its scrumhalf. I have been watching JGP on D and he often looks like he has mastered what Nienaber asks for better than Faf de Klerk and Cobus Reinach! 🤣 Impressive season by JGP if I must make an understatement.
22 Go to commentsOkay last one. I promise. I think it’s despicable for Andy Goode to suggest that Eben can’t count to 12. To be fair he only had to count to 8 - the number of Irishmen who DIDN’T say that. Less the 3 kiwis of course. 23 - 12 - 3 = 8. See Joe. I can do maffs.
27 Go to commentsCheers, Nick! How do you see the Reds’ Jock Campbell’s play this year? Not as strong a carrier as Andrew Kellaway or Tom Wright, but does avoid errors. Do you see Joe Schmidt as wanting safety first at 15 or a try-assisting counterattacker?
91 Go to commentsI’m sure this was all just a big misunderstanding. Irishmen and Afrikaaners conversing in a noisey stadium. Not easy to get the right messages across. A minefield.
27 Go to commentsSay what you will about Andy Goode. But he is right about one thing… I’m not sure what that one thing is exactly… but I’m willing to hear him out.
27 Go to commentsAnother article to bait and trigger Irish fans. This must stop.
27 Go to comments