Griffiths leads calls to scrap cap

Saracens claim that seven Aviva Premiership clubs have indicated they want the existing salary cap system scrapped.

And the club also say the matter will be discussed at a Premiership Rugby shareholders meeting on February 4.

In a press release issued by the club on Friday, the club say they are " creating a consensus among Premiership clubs to remove the salary cap, releasing the 'handbrake' on English club rugby."

Premiership Rugby introduced a salary cap in 1999. It is currently £5million per club, and will rise by £500,000 for next season, when clubs will also be able to nominate two marquee "excluded players."

Comments made by Saracens chief executive Edward Griffiths on Friday come ahead of next year's World Cup in England, after which many of the world's top stars are expected to base themselves in Europe on lucrative club deals.

New Zealand star Dan Carter has already agreed a £1.3million per year contract with wealthy French club Racing Metro, while Australia back Adam Ashley-Cooper is to join Bordeaux-Begles.

"The salary cap has served its purpose," Griffiths said.

"It's time to seize a golden opportunity to grow the game, to ensure a level playing field in Europe, to build the strongest league in world rugby and to let players earn market-related salaries.

"The combination of England hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and sevens featuring in the 2016 Olympic Games creates a historic, but fleeting, platform for rugby union to grow dramatically. We must release the handbrake and step on the accelerator.

"The clubs need to encourage investment, to provide the spectacle and quality deserved by our broadcast partner, BT Sport, and title sponsor, Aviva.

"I t would be a pity if the world's top players light up the World Cup on English soil, and then leave to play club rugby in France. If the salary cap is left to forbid the required investment, it will kill any hope of growth."

Griffiths said he understood the concerns of some clubs regarding wage inflation if the salary cap was removed.

"English clubs must compete in the European Champions Cup against Irish and French clubs spending two or three times as much on players," he added.

"Imagine the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City being asked to compete with Barcelona, FC Bayern and Real Madrid under those circumstances. It would never happen, but it happens in rugby.

"Strong legal opinion suggests the salary cap, as applied, breaches European competition laws.

"We understand some clubs fear the removal of the salary cap will cause wage inflation, yet, in reality, salaries are already being driven by the French clubs. We can either sit back and become a second-rate 'lowest common denominator' league, or we can leap forward.

" Lastly, we must be fair to England international players, who are encouraged to play club rugby in England to be eligible for the national team.

"Their salaries should be determined by the free market, nothing less. It is simply unfair, inequitable and possibly illegal for their pay to be restrained by the artificial mechanism of an outdated salary cap.

"Time moves on. Situations change. The game needs to evolve. In the interests of English rugby, in the interests of building the best league in the world, in the interests of the sponsors and broadcasters, in the interests of the players... it is time to #scrapthecap."