Saracens have issued a strong statement of defence against a veiled accusation that they are operating in breach of the Guinness Premiership's salary cap.
The Guardian revealed on Wednesday that the financial activities of at least one Premiership club are being scrutinised for this season, and the grapevine has been alive almost exclusively with the Watford club's name.
The club recruited heavily in the last off-season and have not shown signs of slowing down, with internationals Matt Stevens, David Strettle, Richard Wigglesworth (all England), Kelly Brown (Scotland) and Deon Carstens (South Africa) all on their way to Watford.
But Saracens are also backing those up with a number of academy products and several older heads in the current squad, including Justin Marshall, Glen Jackson, Moses Rauluni, Kevin Sorrell, Richard Haughton and Kevin Sorrell, are set to leave at the end of this season.
"To try and portray Saracens as a club bankrolled by millionaires seeking the best players in the world would be about five years out of date," said Saracens CEO Ed Griffiths to the newspaper.
"Unless the Premiership clubs start working together and we stop this culture of making wild attacks on each other in the media we're not going to advance."
The salary cap is set to be raised in the next off-season in order to help English clubs combat French clubs, who will operate under a salary cap thought to be about double England's from next season.
It's a move not sitting all that well with England's more impoverished sides or those in an area where football is the big crowd-puller, but for the richer clubs it is a move being virtually demanded in the wake of a poor season for English clubs in europe and for the national team.
"There has to be a balance between those clubs looking anxiously at the bank manager and those clubs looking anxiously at the leading French clubs," continued Griffiths.
"In any group people have different needs and some clubs are finding running an elite rugby club very challenging.
"It is in their interests that the costs are contained. Others may have bigger ambitions to compete in Europe against French teams with a salary cap of â'¬7m [£6m] and Irish teams with no salary cap.
"I don't doubt that all the clubs are operating within the regulations but whether there are some clubs who are frustrated by that I don't know."
"At Saracens we want to play our part in making English domestic rugby the most respected in the world. We don't want it to be second-rate.
"Having said that we're not oblivious to the economic reality facing some of our clubs. We have to face the reality that there are different demands on different people but the sabre-rattling on both sides is counter-productive. I hope the league will be able to find a sensible compromise."
http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3551_6122765,00.html
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Griffiths is beginning to make Warren Gatland sound reserved and fair, which of course is blatantly untrue. Now if the silly arse had kept his gob shut, everyone would just expect it to be Leicester who Steve Hayes is pointing the finger at, but now...
Also of note, I was especially amused with;
The Guardian revealed on Wednesday that the financial activities of at least one Premiership club are being scrutinised for this season, and the grapevine has been alive almost exclusively with the Watford club's name.
The club recruited heavily in the last off-season and have not shown signs of slowing down, with internationals Matt Stevens, David Strettle, Richard Wigglesworth (all England), Kelly Brown (Scotland) and Deon Carstens (South Africa) all on their way to Watford.
But Saracens are also backing those up with a number of academy products and several older heads in the current squad, including Justin Marshall, Glen Jackson, Moses Rauluni, Kevin Sorrell, Richard Haughton and Kevin Sorrell, are set to leave at the end of this season.
"To try and portray Saracens as a club bankrolled by millionaires seeking the best players in the world would be about five years out of date," said Saracens CEO Ed Griffiths to the newspaper.
"Unless the Premiership clubs start working together and we stop this culture of making wild attacks on each other in the media we're not going to advance."
The salary cap is set to be raised in the next off-season in order to help English clubs combat French clubs, who will operate under a salary cap thought to be about double England's from next season.
It's a move not sitting all that well with England's more impoverished sides or those in an area where football is the big crowd-puller, but for the richer clubs it is a move being virtually demanded in the wake of a poor season for English clubs in europe and for the national team.
"There has to be a balance between those clubs looking anxiously at the bank manager and those clubs looking anxiously at the leading French clubs," continued Griffiths.
"In any group people have different needs and some clubs are finding running an elite rugby club very challenging.
"It is in their interests that the costs are contained. Others may have bigger ambitions to compete in Europe against French teams with a salary cap of â'¬7m [£6m] and Irish teams with no salary cap.
"I don't doubt that all the clubs are operating within the regulations but whether there are some clubs who are frustrated by that I don't know."
"At Saracens we want to play our part in making English domestic rugby the most respected in the world. We don't want it to be second-rate.
"Having said that we're not oblivious to the economic reality facing some of our clubs. We have to face the reality that there are different demands on different people but the sabre-rattling on both sides is counter-productive. I hope the league will be able to find a sensible compromise."
http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3551_6122765,00.html
---------------------------------------------------
Griffiths is beginning to make Warren Gatland sound reserved and fair, which of course is blatantly untrue. Now if the silly arse had kept his gob shut, everyone would just expect it to be Leicester who Steve Hayes is pointing the finger at, but now...
Also of note, I was especially amused with;
