Spencer heads for the exit to balance books
Other clubs not pursuing ‘rock star’ England players Saracens must cut squad to be eligible for promotion
Scrum-half Ben Spencer is set to become the first England player to leave Saracens as a result of the salary-cap scandal.
Even after Saracens’ relegation was confirmed last week, the club still need to balance the books to be eligible to return to the Premiership. Spencer, who came off the bench in the World Cup final, is poised to join Bath on loan next season as interim chief executive Edward Griffiths looks to bring Saracens under the £7 million salary cap.
But the “rock star” England players have attracted no interest.
“We have been very popular, I have rarely been so popular,” Griffiths said this week reflecting on how many rival executives had been calling him.
Suffice to say they have not been ringing to offer their condolences on Saracens’ impending relegation.
There is a fire sale at Allianz Park and clubs are in the market for a bargain. “I have said, ‘Don’t worry you’re not vultures, you are lifeboats’,” Griffiths said.
There is little appetite for crown jewel properties Maro Itoje, Owen Farrell, Jamie George or the Vunipola brothers, at least domestically.
“When I have received all these calls from other clubs talking about players that they would be interested in do you know the people that nobody was interested in?” Griffiths said. “The England players.
“When other clubs said would X be available or would Y be available, it was not the England players – the people you called the rock stars – it wasn’t those high-profile England players. “The reason is many clubs have decided the best way to put together a competitive squad is not to employ England players because: a), they are expensive, and b), they are away a lot of the time.”
Instead, it is that band of players, such as Spencer, who are on the fringes of England selection, up and coming but not yet arrived – and, crucially, relatively affordable – who are attracting the greatest attention.
Bath, Wasps and Gloucester are interested in Alex Lozowski. Expect Max Malins, the talented fly-half, and Ben Earl, the back-row recently called up by England, to go out on similar deals. The wages of those who leave on loan will not count towards the salary cap next season, which Saracens must abide by to remain eligible for promotion, but crucially they will remain on the books of the European champions. “That will be the model,” Griffiths said. “There is no other contractual arrangement.”
The question then becomes how Saracens will stay within Premiership Rugby’s £7 million cap if they are keeping all their “rock stars” and up-and-coming stars. Griffiths’ answer was not entirely clear. Senior players coming to the end of their contracts, such as Michael Rhodes and Juan Figallo, will be released. Veterans Brad Barritt and Richard Wigglesworth are also likely to be ushered towards retirement. With far more outs than ins, Saracens will streamline their squad in preparation for their return to the Premiership.
“It is a simple choice – if you want to keep the high-profile players obviously the squad is going to be smaller because there is less money to go around,” Griffiths said. “That is the balancing act you have to work out. Every Premiership club from now until 2021 will have a churn rate of around 20 per cent.”
Meanwhile, Saracens players must put speculation around their futures to one side to concentrate on today’s Premiership fixture against Harlequins. Motivation for a London derby is rarely needed, but Saracens technically have nothing to play for in the Premiership beyond their battered pride with league points no longer counting.
Since they were first hit with the 35-point deduction, Saracens have won all their league matches, but head coach Mark McCall concedes the break for the Premiership Rugby Cup semifinals has come at the right time for his players.
“What you’ve seen from this playing group is a very motivated group all the way through the 19 weeks,” he said.
“A lot of unity has been shown. We’ve got a group of players who are very committed to one another and very committed to playing as well as they can for the rest of the season.”