Recruitment change coming for Premiership clubs and who will suffer most
While the vagaries of the Gallagher Premiership salary cap have made headlines in recent months, another driver of squad change over the next two seasons could come from a different source.
Instead of clubs just having to worry about getting their squad under the salary cap, they will also have increasingly worry about who their players qualify to play for at Test level.
The introduction of a new England Qualified Players system in 2024 – which has been recently confirmed – will see Premiership rosters altered significantly in the next two seasons. In a similar fashion to the LNR’s JIFF protocols in France, the new system will regulate how many non-England qualified players (NEQPs) can be selected in any given matchday squad.
As it stands, in the Premiership, a maximum of two foreign players can now be in the matchday 23, at all periods during the season. Given the current makeup of a number of squads, many might wonder if the legislation is being followed at all.
The answer is yes, thanks to the European Court of Justice’s Kolpak ruling, which came into being in 2003. As a result of the ruling; South African, Tongan, Fijian and Samoan players were not classified as overseas players in the context of the Premiership’s squad rules.
There was also the Bosman ruling to consider, which effectively meant any EU national has the same rights as any ‘local’ worker and therefore cannot be defined as a foreigner. Basically put, players from the likes of Ireland, Italy or France were all considered local in the context of professional rugby.
That changed in January 2021 as a result of Brexit, and now the league are amending the rules to reflect the UK’s positioning outside of the EU.
As such, the Premiership have created an interim period for clubs to get their house in order, in which players ‘who are or would have been classified as a Non-Foreign prior to 1 January 2021 will retain such Non-Foreign classification until the end of the 2023-24 season.’
While the exact details under the Professional Game Agreement (PGA) are still being ironed out, it is likely that clubs will be obliged to have a minimum of 15 EQPs in each match-day squad from August, 2024.
The ruling, which is still relatively generous in terms of how many none EQP each squad can support, will affect some sides far more than others. While one Prem side may need to make next to no adjustment, others will have to consider culling some of their none EQPs over the next 24 months or so.
For example, under the new ruling, Sale Sharks’ matchday squad for this weekend’s Gallagher Premiership game with Saracens contained 13 EQPs, two less than the new cap will allow in 2024.
One side that could be significantly affected is London Irish. As a snapshot example, London Irish’s 23 for their derby with Harlequins has just nine EQPs, well short of the 15 needed in two years’ time.
In stark contrast, Bath’s side that will face Exeter Chiefs today has 19 EQPs. Similarly, Harlequins’ side for their game with London Irish has 18 EQPs, comfortably over the minimum that will be needed.
According to Premiership Rugby Ltd, the level of EQPs in the league has been ‘fairly consistent’ since its inception and currently stands at ‘approximately 70 per cent’. That equates to about 200 English players playing every weekend in the competition.
The extent of the effect on the player market is yet to be seen, but it could theoretically lower the price of overseas players over time. Anecdotally, in France where the JIFFs rules are in place, French-qualified players fetch an increased premium with clubs eager to meet JIFF regs.
It could also stem the tide of South African players making a career for themselves in the Premiership. Currently, about 12 per cent of the league’s players hail from the Rainbow Nation.
One recruiter who spoke to RugbyPass believes the new system will give clubs an increased incentive to upscale their academy production lines, while simultaneously leading to more non-Kolpak players being recruited from the likes of New Zealand and Australia.
“It will definitely put an onus on smart domestic recruitment but it was also put a lot more pressure on academies. Not just the academies to produce homegrown players, but pathways that academies have in place to produce those players and make sure they are ready to play at Premiership level, which is something that English clubs have varied in strength at doing over the years.
“It looks like there will no longer be a foreign player, non-foreign player definition, so for recruiters, instead of thinking ‘Right, I can load my squad with Kolpak players from South Africa, or Fiji, or Samoa or Tonga, you are a little but more open in terms of what you can do recruitment wise, from New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and America, countries like that.
“At the moment, all those players would be deemed foreign, unless you can get them into that non-foreign category. A lot of Kiwi or Aussie players come over with Samoan, Tongan or Fijian passports for example.
“The fact they are removing that, and that you’ll just have EQP and none-EQP means you’ll probably have a little more flexibility in terms of your recruitment.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 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
4 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 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 comments