The English champions have been left isolated by this week’s verdict, but there are mitigating factors and they do not deserve the tag of Premiership villains
Saracens have never courted popularity, but they have never been more isolated than now. Their Premiership rivals have welcomed the draconian 35-point penalty and £5m fine (which will rise if legal costs are awarded against them) slapped on the English and European champions for breaching the league’s salary cap regulations over a three‑year period.
The Exeter chairman, Tony Rowe, will call for Saracens to be relegated when the Premiership board next meets in January. The Harlequins captain, Chris Robshaw, not one given to overreaction, said he found it hard to take now that success was found to have been built on cheating. Sale’s director of rugby, Steve Diamond – a former coach at Saracens – called on the club to remove the words “integrity” and “honesty” from their Allianz Park ground.
Related: Saracens salary-cap breach stamps an asterisk on a great club and the game | Robert Kitson
Related: Saracens judgment is a spectacle of a sport robustly applying its rules | David Conn
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