The Nigel Wray video message: Don't expect a fire sale
Saracens chairman Nigel Wray has insisted the club’s all-conquering team will not have to be ripped apart after being deducted 35 points and fined more than £5million for breaching the salary cap.
The reigning Gallagher Premiership champions and Heineken Cup winners are appealing against the penalty, which has been suspended in the meantime, after a nine-month investigation concluded they had broken the rules.
However, a club that provided Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, Billy Vunipola and Mako Vunipola for the England team beaten in last weekend’s World Cup final are confident they will not have to shed any of their big names if the judgement is upheld.
In a video released on Saracens’ official Twitter account, Wray said: “Just to clarify, there’s no obligation whatsoever to get rid of any players.
“The academy is, in a way, a jewel in our crown and has been greatly responsible for half the England side that got to the World Cup final, and seven of those have been with us for between seven and 10 years, almost since they were kids.
Saracens Chairman Nigel Wray has given his reaction to the verdict of the Disciplinary Panel. #TogetherSaracens pic.twitter.com/djyoSaJP6g
— Saracens Rugby Club (@Saracens) November 6, 2019
“This is what a caring environment and looking after its people does. You have a band of brothers and I have said it already, but if you think it’s about money, you’re wrong.
“It’s about caring, it’s about love, it’s about working together, and I’m very proud of all of our players and indeed everybody at Saracens.
“I’m proud of their achievements and I hope there will be many, many more achievements on the field and off.”
Wray, while acknowledging the club had made administrative errors which have since been addressed, also reiterated his belief that they had not broken the salary cap by entering into co-investment deals with players.
Make no mistake, this is bigger than Bloodgate
– writes @AndyGoode10 #Saracens https://t.co/OFUKYVcPnI
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 6, 2019
He said: “Can I repeat once again that investment in a property, we all think we’re good at it but believe you me, it can go up and you can make money, it can go down and you can lose money.
“That’s a risk. It’s not like salary, where somebody gives you the salary at the end of the week and it doesn’t go up or down.”
Wray’s comments came amid a backlash with former England captain Chris Robshaw accusing Saracens of “cheating”.
Robshaw said: “It’s not great. The game we love is in the world eye and the pinnacle of English rugby is illegal. I think it puts our sport in a very dangerous place.
The former England captain put Saracens on blast this morning at the @ChampionsCup launch
– writes @heagneyl #saracens https://t.co/1IQrhYB1oY
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 6, 2019
“We’re a sport that claims to be whiter than white, and we always look down on football, we look down on this and that and say how it is but we are like everyone else.
“This is cheating to a certain extent and it’s not a good situation for our sport to be in. Whether it’s them (Saracens) or someone else, it’s not a thing we pride ourselves on.”
Exeter’s director of rugby Rob Baxter has seen his side lose to Saracens in each of the last two Premiership finals, although he is not expecting them to be stripped of their titles.
Baxter said: “If this is upheld, it’s pretty obvious those titles have been won unfairly.
“If you’re asking me would I like to walk into Sandy Park and see three Premiership trophies there, I would love to.
“In reality, do I see that happening? No. But the whole truth is if Saracens had been operating with a different group of players last season, they may not have got to the final and if a different team had been there they might have outperformed us on the day.”
Meanwhile, Saracens could land a further punishment after they failed to attend Wednesday’s 2019-20 season launch of the Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup in Cardiff.
This season’s Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup for Gallagher Premiership and PRO14 clubs is launched in Cardiff. Players Chris Robshaw, Iain Henderson and Johnny Sexton comment on the upcoming tournament.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
29 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
29 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
29 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
29 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
29 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments