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Unanimous Premiership support for the Myners report's 52 salary cap recommendations

By Online Editors
(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

The board of Premiership Rugby have unanimously supported the Lord Myners report and its 52 recommendations following the fallout from the repeated breaches that resulted in the automatic relegation of Saracens to the Championship for 2020/21.

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All 13 Premiership Rugby clubs have united to support the recommendations and agreed to move to the next stage of developing these recommendations into detailed regulation. This stage will involve further consultation with our clubs, the RFU and RPA. These new regulations will then be presented to Premiership Rugby Board for approval.

As part of the review, Lord Myners undertook an extensive public consultation so that anyone interested in professional club rugby, including supporters and players, could have their say on the future of the regulations. Around 450 individuals and organisations responded to the consultation and Lord Myners held follow-up interviews with around 200 stakeholders to discuss their views in detail.

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RugbyPass reviews the first Test of the 1997 Lions tour to South Africa in the company of Lawrence Dallaglio

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RugbyPass reviews the first Test of the 1997 Lions tour to South Africa in the company of Lawrence Dallaglio

Darren Childs, Premiership Rugby CEO, said: “I’m immensely grateful to Lord Myners for his thorough, diligent and robust approach to conducting this review.

“It’s a credit to our clubs that they have acted so quickly to support these recommendations and take the Premiership Rugby salary cap into a new era. We want to create the gold standard for delivering sporting integrity, financial viability and competitive balance.

“The next stage is for us to consult with our clubs, RFU and RPA and to enshrine these new regulations for the start of the 2020-21 season, which will be created for the long-term benefit of our sport.”

Appendix: the recommendations in full are:

1. Separation of Investigation, Decision to Prosecute and Enforcement

1.1 Enshrine a commitment by the clubs to respect the independence of the regulations.

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1.2 The current discretion for clubs to choose to remove a director of a club pursuant to Regulation 14.7 should be removed.

1.3 Appoint an independent Cap Governance Monitor, with reserved powers in relation to the enforcement of the regulations.

2. Transparency

2.1 Announce the fact that a charge has been brought as soon as is reasonably practical and within seven days, with a brief summary of the substance and details, and proposed dates for a hearing.

2.2 Publish disciplinary decisions in full, with the redaction of confidential information or personal data.

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2.3 Include details of all breaches and sanctions in a comprehensive SCM annual report, which is made public.

2.4 Publish guidance from the SCM regularly and make this publicly available.

2.5 Publish general information to share details about the operation of the cap and how it is achieving its objectives.

2.6 Publish any changes to the regulations, along with a rationale for how it is consistent with the five regulatory objectives.

3. Drafting of the Regulations and Definition of Salary

3.1 The regulations should remain as a set of detailed rules, backed up by principles.

3.2 All permitted payments to players should be automatically included within the salary cap, except for a few clearly communicated exceptions.

3.3 All exceptional items to be pre-approved by the SCM, otherwise they will be automatically treated as salary.

3.4 Prohibit payments which are subjective, extend beyond a player’s playing career or come from connected parties (including sponsorship by connected parties). Any prohibited payment should result in a sanction.

3.5 Broaden the current definition of connected party.

3.6 The SCM must approve all sponsorship arrangements in advance.

3.7 Tighten provisions around player loans to ensure they are bona fide.

3.8 Review provisions for exempt (marquee) players.

3.9 Remove the provision to deem a salary. Instead allow evidence of inaccurate salary declaration to be sufficient grounds for the SCM to launch an investigation.

3.10 Strengthen emphasis on clubs seeking clarification from the SCM in relation to any uncertainty in the interpretation of the regulations. Failure by a club to do so should be treated by the disciplinary panel as an aggravating factor leading to an increased sanction.

4. Club Accountability

4.1 The entry level for points sanctions should be increased.

4.2 The disciplinary panel should be entitled to take into account a wider range of factors and be given more guidance in relation to how those factors might influence their decision and their relative weighting.

4.3 Increase sanctions for failure to co-operate to a level equivalent to the sanctions available for breach of the salary cap.

4.4 Make additional sporting sanctions available, including relegation, suspension, stripping of titles and return of prize money.

4.5 Provide the disciplinary panel with the power to install an independent monitor for consistent and serious breaches.

4.6 Increase the sanctions available to the SCM for breach of lower level regulatory breaches, including the ability to deduct 2 points, with a right of appeal for clubs before an independent disciplinary panel.

5. Player Accountability

5.1 Tie players into the regulations so that they have accountability with respect to the salary cap.

5.2 The following player obligations should be adopted:

i) Player declaration

ii) Reporting arrangements for players

iii) Onus on player to clarify arrangements

iv) Co-operation.

5.3 Provide sanctions for players who are in breach of their obligations under the Regulations. These sanctions should include fines and sporting sanctions.

6. Accountability of Others

6.1 Introduce a fit and proper test for club owners to be available to the Disciplinary Panel in extreme circumstances.

6.2 Define a category of “club officials” to include directors and shareholders with more than a 10% holding and each club official should register with Premiership Rugby.

6.3 Require club officials to sign a declaration confirming that they have read the Regulations and agree to abide by them.

6.4 Require a board representative to sign a declaration of anticipated and actual compliance with the Regulations.

6.5 Provide that any club official who knew, or should have known, about the breach of the salary cap and who has signed a false declaration or certification or has unreasonably failed to co-operate with salary cap regulations is subject to sanctions including a ban from Premiership Rugby for up to two years (first offence) or up to lifetime (any subsequent offence).

6.6 Require clubs to nominate a salary cap officer who has duties to the SCM.

6.7 Provide obligations for agents in the regulations that mirror those of players in relation to disclosure and obligation to co-operate with the SCM.

6.8 Add a provision to the RFU’s agent declaration that includes an agreement by each agent to comply with the regulations.

6.9 Provide sanctions for breach of the regulations by an agent, including suspension of licence, forfeiture of any commission and/or fines.

7. Powers and Resource of the SCM and the auditors

7.1 Extend system to allow central access to each club’s salary cap spreadsheet at all times.

7.2 Require clubs to provide copies of documents such as new contracts to the SCM within 14 days.

7.3 Clarify the power of the SCM to attend clubs without notice and require them to provide him with finance reports and access to management accounts.

7.4 Allow the SCM to make requests to see players’ tax returns on a random basis.

7.5 Clarify that, as a part of their annual review, the auditors are able to obtain downloads of raw accounting data from each club’s system.

7.6 Enhance the powers available to the auditors in their annual audit to include mandatory interviews, sampling of tax returns and more extensive provision of information and documents by the clubs.

7.7 Introduce sanctions for clubs that do not comply with reasonable requests from auditors within a reasonable time frame.

7.8 The SCM should work with the Rugby Players Association and RFU to provide a programme of education for players and agents so that they understand their obligations under the regulations.

7.9 Change the title of the “SCM” to salary cap director”.

7.10 Appoint a deputy SCM to assist the SCD.

7.11 Appoint a full-time data analyst.

7.12 Make investigatory audits compulsory if the SCM has reasonable grounds to initiate.

7.13 Expand the scope of investigatory audits to include broader powers of search.

7.14 Provide sanctions for any club or individual who is found to have deleted evidence post the notification on an investigatory audit.

7.15 Introduce random mini investigatory audits for two clubs every year.

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j
john 25 minutes ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

13 Go to comments
A
Adrian 2 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

13 Go to comments
T
Trevor 5 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.

21 Go to comments
B
Bull Shark 9 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.

29 Go to comments
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