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Wasps Rugby are lined up to lose three of their biggest stars by the end of the season.
Rumoured financial difficulties at the Coventry based club have been circulating for months and that uncertainty around their finances has added to speculation around the future of a number of their biggest players.
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The lack of new training facilities have also been rumoured to be a significant source of discontent for Wasps’ senior players. The team currently train at Broadstreet RFC, but a promised state-of-the-art £5 million training facility is yet to materialize.
Chris Foy writing in The Daily Mail has now named three players that look likely to leave the club – Elliot Daly, Nathan Hughes and Willie Le Roux.
Rumours around Daly’s future at the club surfaced a number of weeks ago, and while head coach Dai Young has pointed out that he is contracted beyond this season, the Daily Mail report that a clause in his contract could see him exit it early.
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Hughes, on the other hand, has been heavily linked with a move to the cash-rich Bristol Bears, although it is likely that deal would only go ahead if the West Country side avoid relegation. In any case, Wasps may not be able to match the £500,000 the Bears have reportedly put on the table.
Fullback Le Roux is apparently set to move to Japan, and his high salary and his unexpected that stint with the Springbok this November, will mean the club may be eager to spend his salary on a player that won’t be out of action during international windows.
Young told RugbyPass previously that: “This could be Willie’s last season with Wasps but there is an option for another year and we will have a sit-down and talk about what he wants to do after the World Cup in Japan.”
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This week Wasps deputy chairman Nick Eastwood told RugbyPass regarding the club’s financial health: “We are not the sick man of English rugby and we are in phase when we have to invest in the business. There is a realistic possibility that in three years the game will look very different financially than it does now.
“Dai is always planning 18 months in advance and we are well ahead in our thinking about how to divvy up the money for players going forward.
“Essentially, you have the salary cap and two marquee players so if there are an influx of Southern Hemisphere stars post-World Cup then the only way you could get them would be to replace one marquee player with another or get rid of enough salary under the cap to afford whatever the player is asking for. It is as simple as that.
“There are probably half the Premiership clubs who are around the cap figure, two or three relatively close and the others have a got a bit of room.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Not sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
24 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to commentsJason Jenkins has one cap. When Etzebeth was his age he had over 80 caps. Experience matters. He will never amount to what Etzebeth has because he hasn’t been developed as an international player.
2 Go to commentsSays much about the player picking this gig over the easier and bigger rewards offered to him in Japan. Also says a lot about the state sanctioned tax benefits the Irish Revenue offers pro rugby players, with their ten highest earning years subject to an additional 40% tax relief and paid as a lump sum, in cash, at retirement. Certainly helps Leinster line up the financial ducks in a row to fund marquee signings like this!!! No other union anywhere in world rugby benefits from this kind of lucrative financial sponsorship from their government…
5 Go to commentsTrue Jordie could earn a lot more in Japan. But by choosing Leinster he’ll be playing with 1 of the best clubs in the world and can win a champions cup and URC…..
6 Go to commentsThanks for that Marshy, noticed you didn't say who is gonna win it. We know who ain't gonna win it - your Crusaders outfit. They've gone from having arguably the best Super Rugby first five ever, to having a clutch of rookies. Hurricanes all the way!
1 Go to commentsGeez you really have to question the NRLs ability to produce players of quality. Its pathetic. Dont the 25mil in Aus produce enough quality womens players. Sad.
1 Go to commentsBulls fan here, and agree 100% with the conclusion (and little else) of this article. SA sides should absolutely f-off from the champs cup until we get fair scheduling, equal support for travel arrangements and home semis. You know, like all the european teams get.
24 Go to commentsI’m yet to see why Grace would be an ABs contender. He’s pedestrian and lacks the dominance required of a top flight 8.
11 Go to commentsGee my Highlanders were terrible. They have gone backwards since the start of the season. The trouble began when we left Millar behind to prep as the 10 against the Brumbies and he was disconnected from the team that came back from Aussie. We rested Patchell for that game and we blew an avalanche of ball in good attacking positions in the 1st half. Against the Rebels we seem to of gone into a pod system with forwards hanging off from the breakdown leaving Fakatava to secure our ball!
80 Go to commentsPot Kettle, the English and French teams have done it for years.
24 Go to commentsHas virtually played every minute of previous games. Back row of Li Lo Willie , Grace and Blackadder would be the 1. Crusaders issue is a very average 1st 5 who cannot run. Kicking in general play is also below par They need to put Yong Kemara in. He must have so.e talent for them to bring him down from Waikato. Hoehepa would struggle to play in so.e club sided
11 Go to commentsI hope this a good thing making all these changes!
3 Go to commentsThe Hurricanes are good, especially with a decent coach now. However, let’s be real, the Crusaders and Chiefs are clearly a good degree weaker without the players they’ve lost overseas now. The Canes lost one player. It’s also why the aussie teams ‘seem’ to be stronger.
9 Go to commentsOr you could develop your own players instead of constantly taking from the SH competition and weakening it in the process? With all the player and financial resources these unions have compared to SH countries you’d think they could manage that, or is weakening the SH comps and their national sides an added bonus? Probably.
3 Go to commentsNot so fast Aaron, we might need you in black yet lol. God knows he’d be a lot less nerve-racking than hot and (very) cold players like Perofeta. It’s really a shame Reuben Love isn’t playing 10, we’ve got enough 15 options.
4 Go to commentsAnd those from the NH still seem to be puzzled (and delighted) why NZ’s depth isn’t what it once was. Over 600 NZ players overseas, that’s insane. This sort of deal is why Super Rugby coaches have admitted they struggle now to find enough quality to fill out their squads.
6 Go to commentsArticle intéressant ! La question devrait régulièrement se poser pour les jeunes français originaires de Nouvelle-Calédonie, Wallis-et-Futuna et de Polynésie entre la Nouvelle-Zélande et la Métropole… Difficile pour la fédération française de rugby de se positionner : soit le choix est fait de dénicher les jeunes talents et de les faire venir très tôt en Métropole, au risque de les déraciner, soit on prend le risque de se les faire “piller” par les All Blacks qui, telle une araignée, essaye de récupérer tous les talents des îles du Pacifique… À la France de se défendre en développant l’aura du XV de France et des clubs français dans ses collectivités d’Outre-mer !
4 Go to commentsWrong bay. He needs to come to the REAL BAY which is Bay Of Plenty and have a crack at making the Chiefs.
4 Go to comments