The Saracens salary cap scandal has already deeply damaged the domestic league - but it now appears the worst is yet to come for the club, its players, and the game as a wholeWhat a mess. Not only for Saracens, currently neck-deep in a reputational slurry pit of their own making, but for everyone involved. And, talking to those at the heart of the onrushing scandal, there remains plenty more to come. Ordeur, ordeur! Saracens playing in the Championship next season is barely the half of it.Consider, for example, the collateral damage that has already been done to English league rugby. Now triple it. If Saracens really have been operating over the salary cap this season by as much as...
A toxic culture of denial pervades rugby, but the sport must be more honest with itself about players’ mental wellbeingThe interview with Kearnan Myall last week prompted an extraordinary reaction. The former Wasps forward’s searing account of being driven to the verge of taking his own life, in part because of the unseen pressures as a professional rugby player, attracted sympathy from around the world and prompted messages from significant quarters both inside and outside the game.Those who took the trouble to show their public support for Myall included current members of England’s World Cup squad, World Rugby officials, the International Rugby Players’ Association, former World Cup winners, numerous ex-internationals both from England and elsewhere and many current players, some...
The choice facing Europe’s unions at Dublin summit this week could not be starker but the options are not straightforwardIt is a cliche nowadays to say professional rugby union is at a crossroads. That implies there is still the option of chugging on serenely without changing direction when, in truth, the sport sits at a major T-junction. Turn left in search of massive wealth and prosperity for a chosen few or right for the salvation of the wider global game? The choice facing Europe’s leading unions in Dublin this week could not be starker.On the one hand they have the chance to solve all their financial headaches at a stroke, courtesy of a bid from the private equity firm CVC...
The RFU’s decision to award contracts is groundbreaking, says the editor of women’s rugby website Scrumqueens.comThere is nothing new about professionalism in women’s rugby. Since the Netherlands became the first country to award contracts to their women’s sevens players in 2011, the rest of the women’s rugby world has been playing catch-up – off the pitch at least – in the game’s rapid acceleration towards the pro ranks. Related: RFU's full-time contracts for England women's team 'hugely significant' Related: Rachael Burford expecting bigger things for Harlequins and Premier 15s Continue reading...
Orderly change has rarely been Twickenham’s strong point but with the Australian staying until 2021 the union has a clear post-World Cup planThe marriage between Mr Edward Jones of Sydney and English rugby has been so formidably successful that the surprise renewal of vows was easy to understand. Short of slipping a ring on Jones’s finger and wheeling in a cake, the Rugby Football Union could not be more delighted to be snuggling up to its favourite Australian for two further years beyond 2019, even at the cost of forsaking all others. Related: Eddie Jones signs contract extension as England coach until 2021 Related: Eddie Jones: ‘I want England to be the best. You should never be satisfied’ Continue reading...