Nick Easter's radical salary suggestion for Saracens in the Championship
Former England and Harlequins No8 Nick Easter has outlined how Saracens’ automatic relegation to the Championship could actually benefit them.
The reigning European and English champions agreed with Premiership Rugby to take relegation last weekend rather than consent to a full investigatory audit, having already been fined £5.36million in November and deducted 35 Premiership points.
However, Easter – whose former club Harlequins provided a dossier to PRL regarding their investigation into Saracens’ breaching of the cap – has explained on Twitter how relegation could be the best for the dethroned champions in the long run. These were his three points:
1 – Rest current stars prolonging careers;
2 – Blood youngsters for rest of Prem season and some of Champ season developing depth;
3 – With no cap in Champ pay stars (for example) three seasons salary, then return to Prem and pay them half or less of their worth leaving room in the cap for more international signings!
Saracens’ Relegation could massively work in their favour:
1) Rest current stars prolonging careers
2) Blood youngsters for rest of prem season and some of champ season developing depth
3) with no cap in champ pay stars (for example) 3 seasons salary then return to prem and pay— Nick Easter (@nick_easter) January 23, 2020
them half or less of their worth leaving room in the cap for more international signings!
— Nick Easter (@nick_easter) January 23, 2020
With many of the high-profile Saracens players expected to stay with the club next season and just play potential exhibition matches, this will not only benefit them for the season after, but it could help England and certainly the British and Irish Lions.
With the Gallagher Premiership final next season set to take place only seven days before the Lions’ first match, Warren Gatland has implored to no avail that this showpiece fixture is moved forward.
Here's one reason why Saracens' squad depth allowed them to steal a match on their rivals https://t.co/Ri8h7M7N6Q
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 21, 2020
There is likely to be a large Saracens contingent in that Lions squad should they stay at the club, meaning they will be fresh at the end of next season. However, the players may only have the autumn and Six Nations windows to impress Gatland, which may work against them.
With the raft of young players that Saracens have at their disposal currently, the Championship will certainly prove to be a perfect opportunity to give them exposure and playing time in preparation for the season after.
It's an exhaustive read… here are some of the takeaways https://t.co/fHkuYZTI4A
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 24, 2020
This can happen while effectively giving the mainline players a sabbatical, which is a popular option for many players in the southern hemisphere.
However, despite what Easter has suggested, this would not be an opportunity for Saracens to skirt around the salary cap again, as any promoted club in the Championship will not only need to prove that they were under the Premiership salary cap while in the tier below but declare they will be for the season after they have been promoted.
Nonetheless, there clearly are some positives to take out of this situation Saracens find themselves in – and it could certainly be pleasing for Eddie Jones and Gatland.
WATCH: Eddie Jones insists the Saracens scandal could be beneficial to England
Comments on RugbyPass
Can’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
1 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
8 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to commentswel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
6 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
6 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
6 Go to comments