The Sarries scandal
‘If they have denied auditors access to their books, that does not look like the act of an innocent club’
Confirmation last night that Saracens are to be relegated from the Premiership at the end of the current season regardless of how many points they accrue or how many players they offload is clearly bombshell news.
Relegation is devastating for the club, but I feel even more for their supporters, who took the club at their word when they said they had done nothing wrong. If Tony Rowe, the Exeter chief executive, is to be believed and they really have denied independent auditors access to their books, then that does not look like the act of an innocent club.
I would still like more detail before I really cast judgment, though. I detect altogether too much schadenfreude on the part of Saracens’ detractors to be comfortable with the decision.
The salary cap has always been a can of worms – tricky to implement and tricky to police. It has never been handled particularly well by Premiership Rugby, and what we are seeing now is the result of the failure to do so.
Austin Healey wrote a column in The Daily Telegraph yesterday criticising Premiership Rugby for not getting on top of the situation years ago, and I agree with him. The cap has never been properly enforced. That is why the schadenfreude is ugly. It is not as if Saracens are the only club who have flirted with the regulations, or tried to find loopholes.
It is ridiculous that we are in this situation, with the most successful club in the country facing the drop. It looks horrific. CVC Capital Partners have come in and invested more than £200 million. If I were them I would not be too impressed with what we are seeing now. It is the equivalent of Manchester City going down, with Liverpool and Manchester United saying: “Good riddance”.
As I say, I would like more detail. Why now? What has changed since the independent report was published? Clearly something happened when Premiership Rugby met earlier this week.
Did Edward Griffiths, the interim chief executive, say something? Things did seem to change after he came in. But really we can only guess. And that is my major gripe.
Only Premiership chairmen have seen the report, which remains under lock and key at Premiership Rugby. But why can the rest of us not see it? Is there something in there they don’t want us to see? If it is specific names and salaries, just redact them.
But let us know what is going on. Let us know why the independent report reached the conclusions it did. It would provide much-needed clarity.
In my view, Premiership Rugby should make the report public tomorrow. Then at least we could try to understand and stop speculating. The whole thing has been so opaque, from every side. The sight of Griffiths stalking off without speaking to the BBC on Friday was not good. And if Saracens have accepted relegation rather than open up their books, that is very concerning. But I do not think Premiership Rugby is covering itself in glory either.
It was more than a little ironic to read in its statement last night that it wants a “level playing field” when the Premiership is itself a closed shop. If it really wanted to make it fair to Championship teams then they should receive a “golden hello” when they are promoted so they can compete with those teams who enjoy the revenues from P shares and all the rest. The reality is they only want a level playing field within the top 13 teams.
The issue of parachute payments, and P shares, and whether Saracens will have to forfeit either when they drop to the Championship, are issues for another day. But they are issues which give a relegated club a £2.5million start on the other clubs in the Championship. Where do level playing fields start and finish?
But one thing is clear, I think we are going to get a huge response from Saracens against Racing 92 today. There is only one thing for Saracens to play for now this season, and that is the Champions Cup. Saracens are going to put everything into that. Do not forget, the culture at the club is not the problem. That is still very strong.
The players are going to feel a sense of disappointment at the criticism they
are facing. They are like a wounded animal. They can channel those frustrations into Europe now.
You only need to look at the team they are putting out against Racing 92 today to see how seriously they are taking it: Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, Mako and Billy Vunipola, Jamie George and Maro Itoje; all their stars are in as they go for the bonus-point win which would all but guarantee qualification. I think they will do it, too. After that humiliation in Paris in week one, they will be keen to exact revenge. I think we will see a big performance.
I do not see Saracens falling apart on or off the pitch. And I do not see an exodus of players when they are relegated. Obviously, some will leave in an attempt to balance the books, some have already agreed to go. But Nigel Wray has been such a good chairman and the club have built a culture that engenders loyalty. I would not be surprised if they stayed out of a sense of duty. Unless, of course, Eddie Jones or Warren Gatland makes it clear they will not select from the Championship for England or the British and Irish Lions.
The players might actually enjoy a season in the second tier. The Championship certainly will. I would imagine a few attendance records will be broken, and potentially a few scoreline records too. When I was at Northampton I had two players selected for England from the second tier of English rugby: Matt Dawson and Paul Grayson.
Playing in the Championship may
be more of an issue for fringe or aspiring international players than established stars. Young players wanting to break into the international set-up may feel the need to test themselves week in, week out against their direct rivals in a way that Owen Farrell or Billy Vunipola do not.
Either way, I do not see the Saracens dynasty falling apart. They may even be European Champions again by May. They will need to produce a big performance today to stand any chance of that. Racing 92 are one of the competition favourites and will be buoyed by their win over Munster last weekend. The French club will be desperate for a home quarter-final. But this is Saracens’ home patch. And they have a rallying cause now.