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Every Premiership club must back Myners report to restore integrity - Andy Goode

By Andy Goode
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Lord Myners’ independent review into the Premiership’s salary cap regulations has now been published and all 13 clubs should be clamouring to agree to his recommendations. It’s the culmination of months of meticulous work and everyone should be signing up to work within the strengthened regulations to restore the integrity of a competition that has come into question in recent seasons.

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The suggestions need to be accepted by at least ten of the 13 clubs in order to come into force and Lord Myners has said that it should be a case of all or nothing and clubs shouldn’t be allowed to cherry-pick the ones that suit them.

Saracens should be the first club to sign up to this, publicly displaying their intent to move forward and repair some of the reputational damage that has been done to them as well as helping to create a sustainable league that people can trust.

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One recommendation is that there should be more flexibility to impose different and more severe sanctions if necessary to ensure ‘the punishment fits the crime’ and the removal of titles is even mentioned specifically, so perhaps the fate which befell Saracens could have been worse.

The most important aspect of this review is perhaps that it is aiming to make absolutely everyone accountable, whether that be clubs, chairmen, CEOs, DoRs, agents or players. That can only be a good thing.

Nigel Wray has done a lot of good in his involvement in rugby and charity but it can’t be right that he reportedly hasn’t read the salary cap regulations for the past 20 years. It will be incumbent on everyone to do so now.

It’s important that applies to players too, although they will be looking for agents to assist them. I remember having a meeting towards the end of my career with the salary cap manager and being surprised at how much he knew about my financial situation. As unnerving as that may be even though I had nothing to hide, it’s only right.

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Players haven’t had a huge threat hanging over them previously in terms of those conversations with the salary cap manager but knowing they could face sporting sanctions and potentially be banned would be a powerful addition to the regulations.

It’s interesting that Lord Myners said that to the best of his knowledge “no agents replied to the consultation document”. He is recommending that breaches of the relevant regulations should lead to a suspension of an agent’s licence so there is a serious threat of sanction for them too.

You want there to be a fear factor around the salary cap, otherwise clubs and individuals will try to find ways around it and that will render it not fit for purpose and erode the integrity of the competition. The salary cap has to become an effective tool again.

Transparency is a vital part of that. In addition to it being vitally important so that fans as well as everyone involved in the game know what the rules are and if they are being breached, clubs will be far more reluctant to risk breaking the rules if they know they will be exposed.

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Lord Myners is right that every one of these recommendations should be ratified. If they are, that should get rid of any ambiguity and mean there is no excuse or loophole for clubs or individuals to use.

There is so much detail in this review and it looks like he’s done a great job, now it is up to the clubs to make sure it comes into force and the three aims of increasing accountability, reducing ambiguity and restoring integrity are all achieved.

Lord Myners said in his conclusion that rugby is a complicated game with a simple ethos. Some work is needed on making it less complex but its ethos has taken a hammering of late. These recommendations would go some way towards repairing it in the Premiership.

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Jon 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 8 hours 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.

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A
Adrian 10 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

33 Go to comments
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