'Way less competitive': How reduced Premiership cap has hit market
Exeter boss Rob Baxter has explained that Gallagher Premiership clubs will most feel the pinch when it comes to the recruitment of players from the southern hemisphere following the introduction of the reduced salary cap governing the top flight in England. Reacting to the financial impact of the pandemic, clubs in the Premiership decided to reduce the £6.4million salary cap in place for the 2020/21 season to £5m for this season while the current two marquee player stipulation that sits outside the cap will be reduced to one for 2022/23.
It has left some teams feeling challenged and there are fears that it will especially leave English clubs vulnerable to some poor results in the Champions and Challenge Cup over the next few years. However, Exeter boss Baxter is refusing to throw in the towel on his club’s European prospects, but he admitted the Premiership was now no longer the massively attractive destination it once was for signings from New Zealand and Australia.
Whereas previously the power of the pound was a huge incentive compared to the contracts on offer to players in those countries, the reduced salary cap has considerably changed the market with players from down south asking for deals that are now generally beyond the means of clubs in England.
“What I am finding mainly at the moment is the majority of ballpark salary expectations coming in are still salaries that you would still expect to be paying if it was a £6.4million market,” said Baxter. “It doesn’t really seem to be at this stage that kind of realisation that it is a big drop off. In theory, it is probably a bit more than a 25 per cent drop off when you start talking about second marquee players disappearing next season if they are not under contract.
“At the moment that does make the Premiership way less competitive when it comes to southern hemisphere sides as an example. So some of the base salary levels in New Zealand and Australia now are actually kind of comparable to what we could offer whereas before in the £6.4m you could be very competitive. On base level contract that is not really the case now and it was certainly not the expectation at this moment. Whether that will change over the next two years I am not sure but I do think that is going to put an onus on developing (local) players so to speak.
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“It is a challenge,” added long-serving Exeter coach Baxter when asked about what the reduced cap will do regarding the competitiveness of English clubs in Europe. Exeter started their latest campaign with a win over Montpellier but others such as Wasps and Bath suffered drubbings against Irish opposition. “The negatives are probably that it is difficult to keep a successful group together. That is the negative and when we are highlighting Europe, that is probably when the biggest disparity will happen over the next couple of years because you are competing against different levels of the salary cap.
“But at the same time, it does show the positives of the cap, that it should be difficult to keep a group of good players together. That is the point. It should be hard to bring a group of international quality players together… it should be a challenge and that was the whole point of the Premiership having a salary cap, to make it like that where it is hard to do. Whether it is £5m, £6.4m, you are going to have some of those issues.
“It feels a little easier with the £6.4m because there is a bit more to spread around and make everyone feel comfortable. The reality now what you are seeing with the reduction to £5m is you can cherry pick the odd player and that can feel a bit awkward at times because you lose a good player every now and then but it is what it is now and the important thing is to get on with it really.
“It will add a challenge but we still expect that we can be competitive,” added Baxter about Exeter, who were crowned European champions in October 2020. “We are certainly not thinking of throwing in the towel in Europe over the next two seasons. I want to create and help be part of a team that is competitive every year regardless of what the salary cap is. It is just a slightly different challenge, but it may well be something that makes us stronger in two years’ time.
“The reality is that if all the clubs in England spend a couple of years focused largely on the development and getting experience into a different group of players, if we move back to a £6.4m cap and two marquee players and all the bits and pieces we had before, all of a sudden we could potentially be in the market to bring in a level of player on top of those newly developed players and it could be a very bright period for English clubs in Europe. We have got to try and work on the positives of ‘let’s keep developing people and let’s go and try and fight to be competitive every year’.”
Baxter confirmed that Exeter didn’t vote for the reduced salary cap. “No, we didn’t vote to reduce it.” He also added that he found it odd that other clubs who voted for it rushed out to renegotiate deals during a grace period in 2020 before the reduction was implemented. “It wasn’t unanimous but the majority of the clubs voted to have five years reduced salary cap to allow the levelling out of contracts as some clubs had larger numbers of players under longer-term contracts and some clubs had a lot of players coming off-contract.
“To level out that process, there was a window of about ten days to allow clubs to lengthen contracts and contracts signed before that date would always count at 75 per cent in the new cap. Pretty much every club got a number of players signed up within the £6.4m cap that were counted as 75 per cent of their total.
“So there is an irony in that you had a lot of clubs who wanted to reduce the cap to £5m but those same clubs also then proceeded to sign up players on longer-term contracts that would count as 75 per cent of the cap. So in reality there won’t be that many clubs this season in particular who are at the £5m cap because they will have a number of players with a 75 per cent counted contract.
“The irony of it is that it never really went straight to £5m. That is why I am saying it is more the unwinding of contracts over the whole three years period. What you will find is you won’t have any clubs spending the same amount of money… but it does feel ironic that on the one hand, you had a majority of clubs vote to reduce to £5m but then the same clubs choose to spend more than £5m keeping longer-term contracts. If the desperation is to get down to £5m then you wouldn’t have signed any players over £5m.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Lots of discussion points, Ben, but two glaring follies IMO: 1. Blackadder at 6. Has done nothing so far this season to justify his selection. Did you see him going backwards in contact at the weekend? Simply has not got the physical presence at 6: we need a Scott Barrett or a Finau (or wildcard Ah Kuoi), beasts who are big enough to play lock, like Frizzell. If Barret played at 6, Paddy could be joined at lock by Vai’i or one of the young giants we need to promote, like Darry or Lord (if he ever gets on the field). Blackadder best left to join the queue for 7. 2. Not even a mention for Christie? Ratima gets caught at crucial times at the back of the ruck when he hesitates on the pass. The only way he starts would be if Christie and TJ are injured.
1 Go to commentsWhat a dagg in more ways than one
5 Go to commentsRegroup come back next year but sack some of the coaching team and don't be like the ABs last minute sacking. If Crusaders don't do well ABs don't do well.
5 Go to commentsProctor Definitely inform again this year had a hell of a season last year and this year is looking even better. Still mixed feelings about Ioane tho.
4 Go to commentsDagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
5 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
5 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
4 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
38 Go to comments