Naholo

[Hymenoptera]

I guess there is a good chance of direct pay plus *add ons* elsewhere, in whatever form you see fit, image rights, sponsorship, PR, services etc...

[Tervueren]

I thought that the salary cap rules attempted to cover add-ones, even down to giving money to a family member not being a way around it.

[RBB]

From Premiership Rugby, plenty to read

Amounts that are Included:

Salary, wage, fee, remuneration etc.
Bonus (match, win, year-end etc.)
National insurance
Loan (not paid back in full before end of SCY loan was made).
Child support / maintenance /school fees
Accommodation or holiday cost
Pension (incl. annuities)
Image Rights payments
Payment in connection with promotional, media or endorsement work
Payment for off-field activities for or on behalf of club
Signing on fee, transfer payment, relocation allowance or payment linked to transfer
Accommodation, holidays, cars, match tickets (other than 4 per match), clothing (other than training kit, official club blazers and other club wear), travel, membership fees, food and drink (other than at matches and training)
Payment in kind a player would not have received were not for his involvement with a Club
Redundancy/Compromise etc.
Agent Fees plus VAT & NI
Any 3rd Party & Connected Party (e.g. sponsor) payment unless demonstrated separate

Amounts that are Excluded:

International match fees, bonuses, etc.
Legitimate and reasonable expenses
Player’s personal private medical insurance including Rugby Care scheme
Benefit Year (testimonial)
Education fees (e.g. university tuition fees, joinery course fees etc.) for the player
A season long Loan Player x 3 players
A player who is Injured for the entire season

HOW IS IT MANAGED?

On-going monitoring and investigations

Throughout the year every Premiership Rugby Club is required to submit to the Salary Cap Manager within 28 days of signing full copies of all Contracts and arrangements for playing (employment) and non-playing (e.g. image rights) services. All documents relating to Loans and copies of any Contracts/written documents evidencing payments to Player Agents are provided. These submissions are reviewed on an on-going basis and the Salary Cap Manager has the ability to investigate any arrangement between a Player and a Club. Player interviews are carried out on a regular basis to support the management of the Salary Cap. There is also a formal whistle blowing policy.

Annual Audit

In July each pre-season every Premiership Rugby Club will provide the Salary Cap Manager for the new Season. This information is presented to the Board of Premiership Rugby. In September each season every Premiership Rugby Club provides the Salary Cap Manager with Certification setting out their spend during the previous Salary Cap Year. Both of these documents are approved by a Club’s Board and signed off by the Chairman, Chief Executive and Finance Director. The independent auditors (PWC) (during October and November) audit each Club in accordance with the Salary Cap Regulations. The audit results are presented to the Board of Premiership Rugby and shared with each Club.


Read more at https://www.premiershiprugby.com/about-us/faqs/#xI6bpZhueizg5u2d.99

[Hymenoptera]

I thought that the salary cap rules attempted to cover add-ones, even down to giving money to a family member not being a way around it.

You may be right but lets face it, administering it is easier to say than do.

[Tervueren]

I hope you are not suggesting that the odd Fez full of Krugerrands might have been missed in the past

[Daeg]

In reality it is impossible for the salary cap bods to 'police' third party payments from 'unconnected' organisations or parties to family members etc. What would be hard to manage though would be people gossiping or letting the cat out of the bag. Personally I think Sarries have been guilty in the past but now rely on silverware and club atmosphere to keep their players happy. If they enter a pattern of not winning trophies or players not getting picked for their national team then I think things will start to slip... but then that is no different to most other clubs really.

[Raggs]

In reality it is impossible for the salary cap bods to 'police' third party payments from 'unconnected' organisations or parties to family members etc. What would be hard to manage though would be people gossiping or letting the cat out of the bag. Personally I think Sarries have been guilty in the past but now rely on silverware and club atmosphere to keep their players happy. If they enter a pattern of not winning trophies or players not getting picked for their national team then I think things will start to slip... but then that is no different to most other clubs really.

If it was all about silverware and club atmosphere, I doubt Farrell and Itoje would have needed to become the two best paid EQP players in the UK.

[RBB]

Plenty of discussion on Twitter today, particularly in response to a Paul Williams Tweet https://twitter.com/thepaulwilliams/status/1092878674943197184?s=21

[Neils]

Certainly lots of discussion threads all coming up with the same question- how do they do it?
Question - if someone is a £750k per annum player who is English and is one of the marquee players is this a one year allowance then he falls into the general pot of players. Also he cannot re-become a marquee.

[wasps]

Itoje can be their marquee forever if they want him to be.

Who would be their overseas marquee? Koch? Burger?
This one isn't as simple as determining who their highest paid foreign player is, it would depend if they had a higher paid overseas player when one joined.
I.e. if Brits was their overseas marquee at one point, then it wouldn't be possible for it now to be Koch. It would have to be someone who joined after Brits was no longer the marquee.

[Raggs]

Itoje is apparently on a similar wage to Farrell though.

Two of the top paid eqps, academy products, but everyone else will take pay cuts. Even their backups will have been chased by other clubs, Spencer, Tomkins etc.

[Stang]

Does anyone know if Waisake is actually coming?
Great to see Vellacott announced. Any other rumours out there?

[Marlow Nick]

Does anyone know if the salary cap looks at multi-year contracts or is it all year-on-year?
What I mean is can a club agree to front-end or back-end load payments so some years are more than others ... and then move the marquee player each year to cover over the higher payments?

[wasps]

Does anyone know if the salary cap looks at multi-year contracts or is it all year-on-year?
What I mean is can a club agree to front-end or back-end load payments so some years are more than others ... and then move the marquee player each year to cover over the higher payments?

I believe that for salary cap purposes, a players salary is spread evenly across its term

[Vespula Vulgaris]

Does anyone know if the salary cap looks at multi-year contracts or is it all year-on-year?
What I mean is can a club agree to front-end or back-end load payments so some years are more than others ... and then move the marquee player each year to cover over the higher payments?

I believe that for salary cap purposes, a players salary is spread evenly across its term

This. If the different years are at different rates, they are averaged out over the length of the contract.