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Please can we have Japan in the six nations instead of Italy?
Warriors came close to turning over Exeter today.
How do you see your national league panning out this year?
Planning some trips to see London Irish, Leinster and Munster - Irish fell to Saracens yesterday but better performance than of late. Hopefully will stay up this season.
Ospreys are really really poor so far this year.
Going to be a tougher season for Chiefs this year.
Ospreys are really really poor so far this year
I can confirm this fact.
Things are so bad in Ospreylia they have been playing Lydiate at lock.
Warriors came close to turning over Exeter today.
Eh? Warriors played Southern kings on friday???
(Glasgow warriors)
Edinburgh. Decent start to the season. Decent squad. Should be challenging for a european cup place and a playoff.
Glasgow have had a poor start.
Wasps struggling so far 🙁
Salarysens docked 35 points and fined £5m for breaching salary cap.
Salarysens docked 35 points and fined £5m for breaching salary cap.
****ing hell!! Thats going to cause issues
Have they? I’ve heard rumours but not seen anything concrete - it makes sense, their squad is bloody immense and they’ve added to it for this season, surely it’s not within the cap!
5 million as well! Bet it never comes to anything, they will appeal it to death. That would have left them third bottom last year, so no Europe.
Guardian and BBC reporting it this morning.
Gives my mighty Tigers a chance this season any way!!
That would have left them third bottom last year, so no Europe.
The penalty is for this season.
It also leaves the question of how they manage their salary set up for this season as well, assuming it's still structured in the way that attracted this fine!
Yes Flashy, I was commenting on the potential implication based on last seasons table. What's the betting they have all the Engerlund players back in action this weekend? I will believe it when I see it though, there will be somebody in front of a judge getting an injunction as we speak. Although table currently showing them on minus 26 points!
Amazing news, not sure I am in agreement with Salary cap but if you have one then is is ridiculous they flout it so blatantly.
Gotcha, Ducks!
I presume they will have to get shot of lots of players for next season, hows that going to work with the players contracts?
Oh yes, it’s everywhere now.
Ads678 - sadly even if you apply the points deduction to last year they are ahead of where tigers finished - tragic!
(From a fellow Tigers fan)
Sarries have been hit big time for their very blatant disregard for the salary cap; 35 point deduction and a £5m fine both of which they’re appealing.
How it has come as a surprise is beyond me; George, Itoje, Billy, Maki, Kruis, Koch, Spencer, Daly, Goode, Williams etc are all dirt cheap....
As an interesting point, both wasps and Hairy quims exceeded the cap. Both were fined half the amount they exceeded it by; that puts the overspend at 10 million. Or 3 million more that the annual salary cap (7 plus 2 marquee players) for a club. That isn’t an oversight, that is deliberate cheating on a huge scale. The rest of the prem is closing ranks AGAINST them if the story in today’s Times is accurate.
Indeed, Duckman, I'd be very surprised if it was only Saracens who've cheated here. I suppose the thing is that theirs was just so bleeding obvious when you look at the squad.
I am really glad that they are sorting this out. People will always try to push salery caps but it been so obvious saracens have been cheating on a massive scale
I do fear however this will end up in a messy court battle
Luckily for the Dregs, the Pro14 doesnt have a salary cap, so they can keep assembling their team of poundshop stars!!!
The paper had the private companies set up by him and various players listed, he seems to think that's ok; prem rugby disagrees. Jim Hamilton let slip on the podcast that he hadn't paid his rent for the three years he was there. Bet the shed is DEAD understanding this weekend. Also; he appeals and uses the same players...what happens then if they lose the case?
I've been told that Sarries will be fined again for not turning up to some european do, is this true?
Possibly.
European rugby are also considering what, if any, steps to take about Saracens in the Heineken over the last three years.
This isn't going away quickly.
Appeal launched and now the points appear to be back...
CFH - I cannot see what action the european cup could take given there is no salary cap for that comp. Is it on the basis that by cheating Saracens should not have had a team available?
I don't believe European Rugby are interested in the salary cap breach - not turning up to launch is relatively minor offence. What are they going to do, strip the titles and award them to Racing & Toulon?
Presumably whatever dealings they've had to keep that number of players on board for the last three years are still ongoing this season. Are they going to have to have a cull of their squad or ask all the players to take a pay cut to stay under the salary cap this season?
Is that even possible with contracts?
Just going to leave this here 🙂
My godfathers - I thought I was an optimistic Scotland fan!
after the debacle of the WC for Scotland then all scots players have slid right down the reckoning for the lions and quite rightly so. I said before the WC that if the scots players wanted to show how good they were this was the stage to do it on. Well they didn't did they. I think one Scots player improved their reputation - Darcy Graham. Every other players reputation has fallen.
Picking the lions now? I don't think there would be a single scot bar perhaps Hogg
If the Scots want a decent level of representation on the next lions tour then they need to spend the next two years winning things. We have the players to do this but actual deeds count not potential.
Whoosh
teej, stop backtracking; Bruce and I know you wrote that. You think you threw us off the scent by not mentioning Johnny Gray? We are both well aware that the restraining order stops you talking about him/approaching him naked and smeared in peanut butter/emailing him about your dreams.
Dylan Hartley has retired due to an ongoing knee injury that he couldn’t recover from. That combined with his concussion issues, it doesn’t really come as a surprise.
His discipline was piss poor at club level but was remarkably good for England. He was also a pretty big part of that unbeaten run etc.
Regarding Sarries the point deduction has been put on hold due to the appeal. The Prem clubs are indeed closing rank on them and I can see why (for those that actually bother with the cap). It’s so blatantly obvious that they were not bothering with the cap, I can’t believe that they kept going / defending it.
I was amazed that he got 97 caps after the time spent out with injuries and bans (60 weeks!).
Lolz @ Duckman
Darcy Graham is my new mancrush. Ickle jonny is dead to me. Darcy is less of a handful
Scotland given some kick in the balls for daring to question what the robust contingency plans were. Oh, and told to apologise to world rugby for threatening to sue. Even though we didn’t.
Can't you keep that the the RWC thread? Some of us are over Scotlands unedifying response to a storm that killed 20 odd people and would prefer to think about the rest of the season and the 6N?
I will post anything I want on here about things happening in rugby sweetheart.
Some of us are over Scotlands unedifying response to a storm that killed 20 odd people
Speaking of unedifying responses to a storm that killed 20 people:
@Ducky, if you can then sod it so will I.
@brucey Ha that's a pathetic retort.
Scotland 'Moan moan the japanese organisers want to cancel the game so they will win, never mind the fact they are worried about peoples lives'
England 'Weren't we lucky.' Its as self deprecating as it gets, implying that England may well have not won the game against France, not belittling anyone's typhoon experience or loss, nor criticising the organisers.
Scotland ‘Moan moan the japanese organisers want to cancel the game so they will win, never mind the fact they are worried about peoples lives’
I'd like a direct quote of that, please. From someone in the Scottish management, not an interpretation of what your press said someone said.
Also, Alan Gilpin isn't Japanese. Guess what country he's from.