Lee Grant
John Eales (66)
This from Planet Rugby:
English clubs and players uneasy Monday 05th January 2009
The recession is biting, but the plans from Premier Rugby to try and cope with it all are being met by much scepticism among the clubs and players.
As rumours fly around with the passing of January 1 over the players - such as Danny Cipriani and Luke McAlister - who are out of contract at the end of the season, the rumours that clubs may have to operate within a specified squad size as well as the salary cap have many coaches voicing a number of concerns.
Sale Head Coach - and Director of rugby next year - Kingsley Jones said that he was confident McAlister would stay, but said that the Kiwi might be faced with no choice if one of the French sides comes in with a typically bank-breaking bid.
"I believe Luke really wants to stay here with Sale Sharks," he told the Stockport Express.
"He is very happy at the moment, it's just whether we can compete with French clubs. At the moment we've got to operate at 4m pounds ($5.9m), while one French club is rumoured to have a player budget of 20m euros, that is nearly 20m pounds ($39m) nowadays.
"Luke wants to be here for the right reasons, rugby and everything else, but he has to look after his future. If the figures being bandied round are true then it's going to be very difficult to compete with that and have a squad of 30 players."
That last line about the squad size was a reference to the possible limitation of Guinness Premiership squads by Premier Rugby, who are said to be considering a limit to the first team squad size to between 35 and 40 players. The probable figure, if it happens, would be 38 players - the same as ERC stipulate for the Heineken and European Challenge Cups.
The combined impact of the mooted salary cap cut from ?4m to ?3.5m and a trimming of some squads would be unemployment for a number of fringe players - although this may play a role in the professional revolution set for the National League One as well.
"Most clubs have done their recruitment for next season which makes me slightly concerned that we are talking about having to reduce the wage bill by ?500,000 per club," Professional Rugby Players Association chief Damian Hopley told the Daily Telegraph.
"A lot of contracts are already locked in, and it is very hard for players, with families to feed and mortgages to support, to be told that they might have to re-negotiate."
Toulon, Biarritz and Clermont have all been linked with McAlister, while Cipriani is said to be considering Stade Fran?ais and Saracens, whose interest has sparked up again. Another linked with the Parisians is Wasps flanker James Haskell.
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Ooooh - the crocodile tears are flowing for the Pom clubs - poor bastards: they may not be able to wave their chequebooks and buy players from these parts - and they may lose players to France, whose owners, last we heard, are still bullish in the market - but how long will that last?
And if the French teams get Lions type players heading over the channel to them it will mean that Aussies will not have the same opportunities in France that they had before.
Too bad. It may mean that the Pom clubs habe to hire cheaper Aussies to fill the gaps, but maybe younger Oz players, not yet blooded in the S14, will take pause before going over there.
English clubs and players uneasy Monday 05th January 2009
The recession is biting, but the plans from Premier Rugby to try and cope with it all are being met by much scepticism among the clubs and players.
As rumours fly around with the passing of January 1 over the players - such as Danny Cipriani and Luke McAlister - who are out of contract at the end of the season, the rumours that clubs may have to operate within a specified squad size as well as the salary cap have many coaches voicing a number of concerns.
Sale Head Coach - and Director of rugby next year - Kingsley Jones said that he was confident McAlister would stay, but said that the Kiwi might be faced with no choice if one of the French sides comes in with a typically bank-breaking bid.
"I believe Luke really wants to stay here with Sale Sharks," he told the Stockport Express.
"He is very happy at the moment, it's just whether we can compete with French clubs. At the moment we've got to operate at 4m pounds ($5.9m), while one French club is rumoured to have a player budget of 20m euros, that is nearly 20m pounds ($39m) nowadays.
"Luke wants to be here for the right reasons, rugby and everything else, but he has to look after his future. If the figures being bandied round are true then it's going to be very difficult to compete with that and have a squad of 30 players."
That last line about the squad size was a reference to the possible limitation of Guinness Premiership squads by Premier Rugby, who are said to be considering a limit to the first team squad size to between 35 and 40 players. The probable figure, if it happens, would be 38 players - the same as ERC stipulate for the Heineken and European Challenge Cups.
The combined impact of the mooted salary cap cut from ?4m to ?3.5m and a trimming of some squads would be unemployment for a number of fringe players - although this may play a role in the professional revolution set for the National League One as well.
"Most clubs have done their recruitment for next season which makes me slightly concerned that we are talking about having to reduce the wage bill by ?500,000 per club," Professional Rugby Players Association chief Damian Hopley told the Daily Telegraph.
"A lot of contracts are already locked in, and it is very hard for players, with families to feed and mortgages to support, to be told that they might have to re-negotiate."
Toulon, Biarritz and Clermont have all been linked with McAlister, while Cipriani is said to be considering Stade Fran?ais and Saracens, whose interest has sparked up again. Another linked with the Parisians is Wasps flanker James Haskell.
**************************
Ooooh - the crocodile tears are flowing for the Pom clubs - poor bastards: they may not be able to wave their chequebooks and buy players from these parts - and they may lose players to France, whose owners, last we heard, are still bullish in the market - but how long will that last?
And if the French teams get Lions type players heading over the channel to them it will mean that Aussies will not have the same opportunities in France that they had before.
Too bad. It may mean that the Pom clubs habe to hire cheaper Aussies to fill the gaps, but maybe younger Oz players, not yet blooded in the S14, will take pause before going over there.
