Probyn: Jealousy is fuelling some of the Saracens outcry

The news that Saracens have been breaking the wage cap for years really isn’t a surprise to anyone given the size and quality of the squad they have. What is a surprise is the size of the fine (£5.36 million) imposed, along with the 35 points deduction. This could lead to Nigel Wray walking away from the game, and that would be a travesty.

Wray has been accused of using methods similar to what was said to have been used by both France and the All Blacks during the amateur day. They provided payments for their players with no sanctions from the IRB (World Rugby) at that time.

France, it was said, provided funding to help past players start businesses and paid for family holidays for their current players, while New Zealand had the All Blacks’ Club which gave players money depending on the number of Tests they had played once they retired from the game.

Wray, right, has always taken a ‘long-term view’ of his commitment to the club and its players, reflected in the respect the past players and coaches (including Eddie Jones) have for him.

There can be no doubt that Saracens are not the only club to have broken the cap but they are the most successful and that could engender jealousy, especially among the multi-millionaire owners who have spent similar amounts but without the same levels of success.

The salary cap was brought in so there would be a sustainable ‘level playing field’, and while I agree with those sentiments I believe the level playing field should be for all the game, not just the Premiership. Funding from the Union shouldn’t be focused on just those clubs that have ‘P’ shares but fairly distributed to all clubs dependent on their league status.

That would mean no parachute payments to relegated teams and equal funding for promoted clubs.

Rather than waste money paying Premiership clubs EQP fees, it should be written into the regulations that a certain number of EQP are in each match day squad as the French have done.

With currently around only 61 per cent (approx 165) of Premiership match day squads EQP on an average weekend, what is being paid now seems a waste of money.

It should also be possible for players to be picked for England from any of the clubs playing in the leagues rather than just the 165 on show in the Premiership.

If this were the case, we wouldn’t have the farce of Mark Wilson having to leave his club Newcastle to join Sale for a year so he can hope to be picked for England.

It somehow seems wrong for Saracens to be made an example of just because they have been successful and their owner believes in paying a fair price with his own money for that success.

“Saracens are not the only club to have broken the cap but they are the most successful”