One question still unanswered after 5-month investigation - which unnamed club breached Premiership salary cap in 2015
Lord Myners’ extensive 55-page salary cap review report published on Thursday left one question still unanswered after its five-month investigation – which club along with Saracens breached the Premiership salary cap in 2015.
Saracens were automatically relegated from the Premiership last January following repeated breaches of the salary cap, and Myners claimed the tensions that bubbled to the surface over the past winter and resulted in the demotion of the Londoners stemmed from how matters were handled years earlier.
Wasps and Harlequins were punished under the salary cap system for an “overrun tax” for relatively minor overspends in 2016, those clubs respectively paying a little over £20,000 and a little over £6,000 after their infringements were deemed to be matters of administrative oversight.
However, full disclosure regarding what occurred in 2015 eluded Myners due to how those cases against Saracens and another club that has never been formally named were settled outside formal procedures on the eve of a first hearing.
Myners wrote: “In December 2014, the salary cap manager (SCM) initiated an investigatory audit in relation to Saracens. When the SCM decided that Saracens failed to co-operate with this audit, he charged the club with a breach of the regulations and, in line with the regulations, a disciplinary panel was convened and a full hearing arranged.
“On the eve of the hearing, the disciplinary proceedings were settled and it was agreed between the clubs that the case would not be heard and that Saracens would accept undisclosed sanctions as part of the settlement.
“The salary cap regulations then in force did not provide for disciplinary proceedings to be settled. I conclude that this matter must, therefore, have been settled outside, and regardless of, the regulatory framework, with the consent of the clubs.
“It might make good sense for settlements to be reached on occasions such as these – I believe that both the Premier League and UEFA have done so – but the critical point is not to give any impression of circumventing the regulations and the officials whose role it is to enforce them in order to reach a settlement.
“In other words, it seems – and I have been given no evidence to counter this narrative – that in 2015 the clubs stepped outside the processes they had established and struck a private deal with Saracens without any explanation about the terms of the agreement with Saracens nor any apparent sense of obligation to explain the decisions.
“It is perhaps not surprising that old enmities bubbled to the surface when the 2019 breach process began and an appearance of settling old scores emerged in various press reports. This was to the detriment of the Premiership.
“Multiple sources, who I have no reason to distrust, have told me that there was at least one other top-flight club under an early stage of investigation in 2015 and that this investigation was halted in a similar way, through a negotiation and agreement outside of the regulations.
“I understand that this case centred on the role played by the club in question in securing a significant number of individual sponsorships for players which were either not disclosed to the SCM or not included in the salary cap calculation.
“Once again it appears that proper process was set aside, with decisions taken into the hands of clubs so that they could find a route to resolution outside the formal regulatory process.
Staggering outlayhttps://t.co/n3DYKWgMrN
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 14, 2020
“It strikes me that the events of 2015 were a defining moment for the salary cap. The clubs effectively pulled the rug from beneath due process and established a precedent that the regulations could be changed at any time through negotiation and mutual agreement between the clubs.”
That precedent left Myners fearful about the salary cap’s effectiveness. “This is clear evidence that no matter how robust the regulations are, if the current cap governance rules pertain, the clubs have the power to decide to ignore them and take whatever action they unanimously agree to.
“If, as appears to me the case currently, the clubs continue to adopt an attitude that the regulations and procedures are a matter for private negotiation and not a transparent process, then faith in the system (a faith already undermined by the fact that Saracens breached it for not one, but three successive seasons) will not be rebuilt.
“However much the clubs, through PRL, might try to set aside their individual interests when coming together to take decisions in the best interests of PRL, this is, in practice, a challenging thing to do.
“PRL is not alone in this. Similar challenges can arise with trade associations and mutuals – but there are opportunities here to apply principles from codes on governance and the management of such conflicts in a way that will encourage decisions and behaviour which support the clubs collectively and, beyond that, PRL and the broader rugby community.
“If all agree that a trustworthy salary cap regime is necessary for the league’s financial stability and competitiveness, it follows that the clubs must show unqualified support for regulations and actively promote confidence in the cap among all who take part in and support the game.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
75 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to comments