England will suffer if players focus on Saracens, says Jones
Coach fears Six Nations drop-outs and squad rift Chairman Wray decides not to fight punishment
Eddie Jones fears that the Saracens crisis could lead to a rift in his England camp and affect the availability of players for the Six Nations.
On another crushing day for the Premiership and European champions, Saracens decided not to appeal against the 35-point deduction and £5.4 million fine for breaching payment rules, with chairman Nigel Wray saying that he took “full responsibility” for the club’s plight. Saracens’ main sponsor, Allianz, also revealed that it wished to hold talks to discuss its future commitment.
But Jones’s intervention means the controversy is now also threatening to derail England’s plans for the Six Nations. The head coach warned that his Saracens players could lose focus on their international commitments as their club face up to the reality of a Premiership relegation struggle, and also admitted that the fallout from the affair could damage squad unity.
“It could have a significant impact,” Jones told the BBC, when asked about his Six Nations plans. “It’s something we need to weigh up and look at very carefully.”
Mark Mccall, the Saracens director of rugby, tasked with keeping his side in the Premiership from their position on minus 22 points, has no power to stop Jones picking his players.
However, the Australian indicated that he expected some of his players to be distracted. “We may have to work to mend those relationships a bit harder, and there might be some Saracens players who feel like they’ve got to play for their club instead of their country, to make sure they don’t go down,” he said.
Under Rugby Football Union guidelines to prevent burnout and long-term injury, players are limited to 35 club and international matches a season. Owen Farrell has already played in nine internationals, and will almost certainly be wanted by Mccall for the remaining 18 league fixtures.
The potential England absence of Farrell, Mako and Billy Vunipola, hooker Jamie George, second-row Maro Itoje and full-back Elliot Daly, who is yet to play for the club after his move from Wasps, will be particularly frustrating for fans who have already bought tickets for the internationals following the run to the World Cup final in Japan.
Officials at other clubs, including Exeter chairman Tony Rowe, already feel Saracens escaped lightly, and Jones, who was Saracens director of rugby in 2008-09, added “there may be some dislocation between Saracens players and the rest of the clubs”.
Wray confirmed that Saracens would not be appealing against their punishment, and blamed himself for wooing his players with joint investments, recognising an independent panel had concluded that the schemes were “reckless”. Wray confirmed he was now accepting the sanctions because of the “costly, time-consuming and destabilising” impact on the club.
The back-to-back Premiership champions insisted to The Daily Telegraph last night that their squad – six of whom started the 3212 World Cup final defeat by South Africa – would not be broken up, and claimed executives had already rebalanced the books to stay within payment limits for this season.
Players and staff are gathering tomorrow for a crisis summit.
An independent panel, led by barrister Lord Dyson, found the club had failed to disclose payments to players in each of the 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, and had also exceeded the ceiling for payments to senior players. Premiership Rugby’s investigations centred around Wray’s involvements in companies linked to the Vunipola brothers, Farrell, Itoje and Richard Wigglesworth.
Saracens’ decision not to appeal meant they immediately plunged to the foot of the Premiership, 26 points adrift of 11th-placed Leicester and in serious danger of losing their top-flight status.
Allianz, the German financial services provider which has been paying Saracens an estimated £2million a year as the main sponsor, immediately demanded talks with the club. “We will be holding discussions with the club to confirm this shared understanding and commitment going forward,” the firm said.
Wray, however, will resist calls to quit, and has instead pledged to introduce new “robust, independent governance measures” to ensure Saracens fall within future spending limits.
The decision not to appeal, Wray said, was for “the good of the game” and comes after other clubs said Saracens had been lucky to escape automatic relegation. “I recognise that the arrangements between myself and players, made in good faith, which comprise the material element of the charges, should have been brought to the attention of the salary cap manager for consultation prior to entering into them.”
Saracens sent their first tranche of financial documents to auditors before the season kicked off, the Telegraph understands, but Wray still has “active” investments with at least one of the players involved, according to Companies House.
“We will shortly introduce robust, independent governance measures acceptable to all, including the appointment to the Saracens board of a director who will oversee a new governance regime,” Wray said.
A source confirmed Wray did not need to liquidate his previous investments with players, but would not be taking on any new schemes.
An under-strength line-up were torn apart 30-10 by Racing 92 in the European Champions Cup on Sunday, but Farrell, Itoje and the Vunipolas are set to return in the Premiership fixture at Bath on Nov 29.