Paul Sackey: I?m hurt rugby has tried to keep up with others

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Paul Sackey: I?m hurt rugby has tried to keep up with others ? it needs to rein spending in

Salary cap for Premiership teams will rise to ?6.4 million next season, but former London Irish and Wasps wing says clubs must be cautious
Charlie Morgan, Senior Rugby Writer 14 May 2024 ? 5:03pm


Paul Sackey, the former England wing, has urged the club game to ?rein in? spending and consolidate after a period that has seen two of his old clubs, London Irish and Wasps, go to the wall.

Sackey, who has become the inaugural inductee into Premiership Rugby?s Hall of Fame, presented by Gallagher, is now commercial director at York City FC.

The 44-year-old scored a total of 69 tries in the top flight, putting him 10th on the all-time Premiership list, and won the competition twice with Wasps in 2005 and 2008.

Over the course of last season, Wasps and London Irish were two of three Premiership clubs to fold. Sackey, who holds both of those sides dear, suggested that overambition had been a key factor in those two ?horror stories?.

With the salary cap set to rise again next season from a base of ?5 million to ?6.4 million, he hopes that clubs still cut their cloth according to the resources at their disposal and resist any temptation to overreach.

?I know that Premiership Rugby are trying their hardest to make the product more exciting but, originally, it felt like we had a salary cap for a reason,? he said. ?That was to keep everything running at a certain level and everyone was on the same playing field.

?I think that the salary cap going higher and higher, with the way other sports are paying people, means we?ve had to jump on that bandwagon and pay people certain money because that?s the way things were going. Originally, we had the salary cap because we knew we weren?t as popular as other sports, so we had to rein it in a little bit.

?As a product, I thought we were doing really, really well. The Heineken Cup was really good. But everything evolved and the money that came in was so much that it was half-killing teams. It?s like we have to have billionaire owners now, which is hard work because a lot of them want to be in football because there?s more exposure. I just love the sport so much and I?m hurt because two of my teams are not with us at the moment.

?I?m hurt and there needs to be some sort of a change, or a stance that says: ?We?re not there yet, so we need to rein it in so teams can survive and strive?. It upsets me. I?ve transitioned over to football and I?ve seen the same things, teams striving to be Premier League teams when they can?t and [they] have to understand their level. I think that?s where rugby is at the moment.?

Despite acknowledging that rugby union has been ?lagging behind a bit? on the commercial front, Sackey does enjoy the prominence that wings are afforded in the modern game.

?I?m not going to be sitting here bitter and going: ?In my day it was harder,?? he said. ?Everything evolves, for better or for worse. I?m not bitter about how they?re making more money, that?s just the way it is. We were making more money than the generation before us.

?I believe that wingers are now more involved. Back in the day, the game was a bit more safe and everyone was all about territory. Now, I think they are trying to make it more exciting because they have to. The product has to be more exciting, otherwise there won?t be any eyes on it.?

?I wasn?t a winger that shied away,? Sackey added. ?I liked to get involved, so I think I?d like to play in this era. I think I?d have fun, I think I?d enjoy it. I think I?d score more tries as well.?