Rugby buy out threat
Jack Nowell on pay cuts: I’ll do it if it means we can save Exeter!
PREMIERSHIP rugby clubs could be taken over by a private equity firm as the impact of coronavirus erodes the sport’s finances.
CVC, already a 27 per cent stakeholder, is set to take advantage of the plight of the cashstrapped clubs by increasing investment.
ONLY seven days ago, Jack Nowell still had a note in his diary earmarking this weekend as the time for him to return to Exeter’s starting team.
Prior to the Six Nations, his ankle gave way and he needed surgery. This was his moment to unload months of frustration.
Instead, along with almost every other rugby player in the Premiership, he is spending his time working out in a makeshift gym in his garage.
Naturally his first concern is for the safety of his family, but outside of that there are also lingering fears about the future of his sport.
‘There are so many unknowns, aren’t there,’ said the winger, speaking over the phone from his home in Exeter.
‘I got the pressure washer out on Monday to clean out my garage and set up a home gym for a couple of weeks, but it could be much more than a couple of weeks.
‘Rob Baxter (Exeter Chiefs’ director of rugby) emailed us all on Sunday and told us not to come in. We’re in a bit of limbo. Is this it for the season? Is it not? No one really knows.’ The uncertainty is threatening to bring down the sport.
While Exeter are the most financially robust club in the league, some of their rivals are at risk of going under if they lose several months worth of revenue.
Like every player, No well received an email from the Rugby Players Association on Thursday outlining proposals for players to take a 25 per cent pay cut.
Six clubs have said they will comply — Leicester, Gloucester, Saracens, Wasps, Worcester and Bristol. Exeter will make a collective decision in due course but Nowell is the first to publicly voice his support.
‘We’ ve not been told what our club’s stance is yet but Rob reiterated the RPA email on Friday,’ said Nowell. ‘ These are unprecedented times so we’ll need to take unprecedented measures.
‘Some boys will be happy about it, others won’t. We’ve got families to look after like everyone else, but we’re realistic that rugby doesn’t have the same finance as the Premier League football.
‘We all want to have a rugby team to go back to when this is over. That’s why the clubs are doing it. Everyone wants a job to go back to so maybe you need to take a little pay cut or tweak your contract.
‘If the clubs really need this to stay afloat then the players will support it. I’ve been at Exeter since I was 16 so if the club said that to me, of course I’d back it. I want my team to survive, I want our league to survive and we all want rugby to enjoy when this is over, so I’m 100 per cent behind it.’
This could have been a landmark season for Nowell’s club. They are top of the Premiership and have qualified for the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup. ‘To just call it quits now, after the journey we’ve had, would be gutting,’ said Nowell. ‘We believe we can go on and win the Heineken Cup and the Premiership if we have the chance.
‘There’s guys like Nic White leaving at the end of the year. He’s booked a flight back to Australia for the day after the final. Little things like that are up in the air now. He doesn’t know whether he’ll be staying longer or not.
‘The European Cup will probably be the first to give way; you’re flying to different countries and it will be tougher to keep going. It’s going to be hard to find those dates and get them pencilled in again. Maybe we’ll have to cut into our off season to do that. Again, no one really knows. The most likely outcome, unfortunately, is that we write off this season. You need to put rugby into perspective though, don’t you?’
It has been a year to forget for the winger, who was injured during both the World Cup and the Six Nations. But he has had reassurances from England coach Eddie Jones and hopes there is a silver lining as his body recovers during an enforced lockdown.
‘ Eddie sent me a text saying, “Good to see you back, keep fit and hopefully see you on the Japan tour this summer”,’ said Nowell. ‘It was a shocking World Cup for me. I felt my body let me down a little bit and I felt pretty deflated when I got home. To play 10 minutes against Argentina, one game, and get another injury; I was pretty angry at myself.
‘It was good to get to the final but that’s two World Cups where I’ve not really been able to show what I’m about. Hopefully I’ve got one more in me. I came back and got 12 games under my belt for Exeter but, come the Six Nations, my ankle wasn’t quite right. I had an operation, got rid of some scar tissue, took some bone out and finally got back from that the other week. Missing the Six Nations was gutting but the England physios said I need to think long- term rather than short-term.
‘I watched at home on TV, in my man-cave, by myself, a little bit upset. It was good to see the boys do well.
‘The positive in all of this is that we’ ve got sometime to let our bodies recover. But in the meantime, you’ve just got to keep yourself ticking over, ready to go.’