'Untold pressure' placed on players behind-the-scenes as Premiership clubs race to meet contract deadline
‘Untold pressure’ has been put on players behind the scenes across the Gallagher Premiership this week, as clubs and agents raced to sign new contracts before a crucial salary cap deadline.
Premiership Rugby clubs voted last week to reduce the salary cap by £1.4million, bringing it down £5m for the 2021/22 season from £6.4 million. In that, a clause was created whereby only 75 per cent of ‘existing contracts’ would count towards that revised cap if a pay cut was agreed by June 18.
According to the new agreement: ‘For any existing contracts that continue into the 2021-22 salary year, and beyond, their cap cost will be counted at 75 per cent of their overall actual value, to sensibly manage the transition to new cap levels.’
The deadline for what would be considered an ‘existing contract’ was June 18th, 2020, leading to multiple clubs going into overdrive in an attempt to complete new contracts for their biggest name players to get them registered at just 75 per cent of their actual value for salary cap purposes. “Agents have had the busiest weeks of their lives,” one source within the industry told RugbyPass. “Some clubs have signed up double-digit numbers of player this week.”
Theoretically, any club could exceed the salary cap legally, if they had signed enough players prior to the June 18th deadline, just passed. A club could be paying non-excluded players as much as £6.6 million – £200,000 than the £6.4 million 2019-20 salary cap, and £1.6 million more than the new £5 million cap – provided their contracts were locked down before the deadline just passed.
A Premiership Rugby spokesperson told RugbyPass: “When the Premiership Rugby clubs voted unanimously to reduce the salary cap, following the significant financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, we needed to introduce measures to manage the transition from a senior ceiling of £6.4 million to £5 million.
“For any existing contracts that continue into the 2021-22 salary year, and beyond, their cap cost will be counted at 75% of their overall actual value. This ensures the transition to new cap levels is managed sensibly and will not adversely affect players with existing contracts.
“This provision was included to protect our players with existing contracts, and it would be wholly incorrect to describe it as a loophole. A full list of changes to the salary cap is published on our website – premiershiprugby.com.”
It means clubs, according to salary cap limits at least, can take in a near-identical player wage packet into 2020/21, provided that completed their business this week gone.
If the individual contracts are long enough, two to three seasons long, it could mean the real salary caps for each Premiership club is still significantly more than the official £5 million, which is due to expire and return to £6.4 million in 2024-25. While the majority of clubs want to pay the players less to make the game sustainable, having players registered at 75 per cent of their actual salary could prove strategically beneficial over the course of next two to three seasons as the sport recovers.
Against a background of increasing tension between Premiership players and their clubs, the June 18th date was also used by some clubs to pressure players into signing new reduced salary contracts. Emboldened by the Premiership Rugby’s recommendation of a 25 per cent pay cuts, many clubs asked players to sign long term contracts by the deadline or face less attractive salaries deals.
The Rugby Players Association (RPA) said last week that the June 18th deadline placed huge pressure on players: “The changes to the Salary Cap as announced on Wednesday [June 10th] and the arbitrary June 18th deadline for contracts to be “existing” were passed with no consultation of players. That has led to a significant number of our members faced with immediate contractual decisions to make about their long-term futures in order to facilitate this change for the clubs.”
“This approach exposes the lack of governance within the Premiership, as recently highlighted by Lord Myners’ independent review.”
The RPA’s Damian Hopley told RugbyPass this weekend in a statement that: “The RPA have raised significant concerns about the artificially manufactured deadline day that players had to sign by last week, announced publicly just one week before the deadline.
“This put untold pressure on players to agree new contracts in a matter of a few days. We do not consider this to be reasonable and appropriate employment practise and a number of players and their representatives have voiced their disquiet about how this has played out over such a short period of time.”
The RPA however say they “look forward to consultation with PRL on these regulations to safeguard robust governance around the Cap.”
One club offered players a tiered salary cut over three years, with 15 per cent the first year, 20 per cent the second and 25 per cent for the third, while tabling an alternative of a four year contract at an unchanging, reduced rate. The majority of players, eager for stability, understandably took the four-year option.
Another club have agreed a 12.5 per cent, one year pay cut for all playing staff, although there was significant push back against the cuts from some of team’s senior player group, including seasoned internationals.
At least two Premiership clubs are honouring all current player contracts.
Many players feel they have no option but to toe the line in negotiations with their cash strapped employers.
Lord Myner, who conducted the salary cap review that lead to the agreement to drop the cap to £5 million a season , said any strike action would be ‘foolhardy’. “It would be foolhardy for the players to feel they’ve been pushed into a situation where they have to strike. If you’re an owner wondering how much longer you want to go on writing annual cheques, nothing’s more likely to tip you over the line than being exposed to industrial action.”
Meanwhile, Ellis Genge’s fledgling players’ union alternative, the Rugby Players Epoch (RPE), appears to have admitted defeat, for now at least. Genge, speaking on House of Rugby this week said: “In two years’ time, if boys turn around and say, ‘F****** hell, they took 25 per cent of our wages and we couldn’t do anything about it,’ it will be a case of ‘you could have (done), you just didn’t want to’. Well, 128 people did and the rest of them didn’t,” Genge told the House of Rugby podcast.
“(RPE) is not happening at the moment. If we find an opportunity to kick-start it again, then we will. For the time being, it’s a case of (players) dealing with their club independently.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Je 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!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 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.
25 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.
25 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 commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to comments