Features

Rugby Rugby writer Jon Harris takes a look at the responsibility Guinness Premiership clubs have to their fans and questions whether the big money transfers in the game are necessarily good for the sport going forward.

English rugby was recently rocked by the announcement that the Wasps trio of Jamie Haskell, Riki Flutey and Tom Palmer were joining French clubs in the off season. There is a growing contingent of British players in the financially lucrative French Top 14 and, with a salary cap in the Guinness Premiership, this growth could very well explode.
 
It is a professional game and transfers should be expected, but is it healthy for the development of the game? Nigel Wray of Saracens, says that it does not matter to the fan what nationality the players are, they're only interested in winning. That may be so, and if winning is all that his job entails, then he has the right to do what he must to stay on top.
 
Is professional rugby only about winning? Definately, but there are other issues at hand. Let's have a look at these in an attempt to understand the situation.
 
Firstly, where does all this money come from? The fan of course, whether in the form of his buying a season ticket or the latest shirt or the potential the collective offers to the sponsors. It is all about the buying potential of the fan.
 
British rugby seems to take many of their ideas and leads from British football, and why not. Football can teach rugby a lot when it comes to professionalism, considering the fifteen man game has only been full professional for a little less than fifteen years.
 
If big pay packets and huge transfer fees are two of the leads being taken, that could be very dangerous for the UK game. The credit crunch seems to have effected the British game far more than the French game, which still seems to have pots of cash available to spend.

British football enjoys a huge following in the United Kingdom. The numbers are there. Tune into Sky Sports and see how much attention the sport enjoys compared to any other, especially rugby, and you'd realise the pull football has on public interest. The money available in the sport is obviously therefore far greater than rugby.
 
English football clubs are international brands and have that as an added source of income. The English Premiership is televised around the World and the revenue does filter to the coffers of the clubs. All in all the money available to English football is staggering.
 
UK rugby also enjoys international interest, the Guiness Premiership, the Magners League and on a broader base, the Heineken Cup, are al highly supported tournaments - but the revenue is a drop in the cup of its round-balled counterpart. Copy their systems, but beware of copying their big spending ways.
 
Assuming Wray is correct and every Premier club goes that route, what of player succession. Looking once again to the French Top 14, where there are so many foreigners playing there it's sometimes "spot the Frenchman" on the team sheet (indeed Brive has one Frenchman in their starting pack). If players are constantly imported, what of the developing local talent?
 
Each club's Youth Academy would have to be strong, as indeed most are, but are they given sufficient opportunity to establish themselves in the top flight? Winning after all is the only thing, and the new kid on the block seldom gets a sustained opportunity to grow into a role. After all it is all about a return on investment. Who'd pay millions to have Dan Carter kept out of the team by a young local?
 
Is France's ordinary performance in this year's Six Nations perhaps not an early sign that the number of foreigners in the Top 14 is not allowing for the development of the French nationals who have to represent the country? How long before we see this in the UK, if not already?
 
The Southern Hemisphere once again benefits at the expense of Northern Hemisphere rugby. All three of the Southern Hemisphere giants have a ruling that foreign based players will not be chosen for the national team. Those who choose to follow the big paycheck, do so at the risk of  never representing their country again, or at least while plying their trade overseas.

The result of that is that the Southern Hemisphere has a constant pool of new talent being exposed and developing their skills in their local provincial leagues.
 
The cycle continues though. It is a sausage machine. The newcomer makes a name for himself in his own country, goes onto play Super 14 and hopefully international rugby, and when he's had enough or even before then, he takes up one of the numerous lucrative contracts available in the UK and France. The Euro and Pound are so strong compared to their local currency, that the paycheck is magnified and the club scores as a result.
 
The life of a professional player is tough. It is deliver or go. Their earnings are obviously linked to performance and if they are not playing, this is seriously inhibited. In the French Top 14 it is even more cut throat, perform or go. In South Africa there have been a couple of high profile players who tried their hand at French rugby and did not stay the distance, John Smit and Victor Matfield to mention two. Yes, the attraction of playing international rugby probably influenced their decision to return.
 
Herein lies the crux of the issue. International rugby is still the dream of every rugby player, professional or amateur. To return to the British Football comparison, it was said that the English footballers don't have the desire to play for England. Fortunately for rugby, the desire to play for one's country is still strong, at least in the top ten countries it is.
 
Yet it could very well be under threat if the rot sets in and countries such as the top Northern Hemisphere Unions allow their quality to slip. This is a real threat when the local talent is devloped to a point, but not afforded the opportunity to develop in competition. They should be given every bit of exposure in top flight competitive situations as possible. Maturity as a player comes from playing not practising.
 
So Mr Wray, your responsibilty may be to win every game and to fill the stands, but you and your counterparts have a responsibility to ensure that the game is sustainable in terms of player talent. You cannot have a mercenary apporach and say you will buy a team. It will be the death of the game in the UK and France.