South Africa's BIG salary cap handicap
SPOTLIGHT: Sale Sharks Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson opened the proverbial ‘can of worms’ when he suggested that the Premiership salary cap is a major handicap for English clubs in Europe.
Sanderson, speaking after his team’s 22-41 loss to Racing 92 in a European Cup quarterfinal, said the salary cap makes it difficult for English clubs to compete with star-studded French sides in Europe.
The Sharks’ loss ended English representation in the Champions Cup.
The Premiership salary cap is now £5 million – which is significantly less than the spending of some of the English clubs’ European rivals.
* To read Sanderson’s views, CLICK HERE!
It is a problem South African teams have been wrestling with for some time and an issue that will be highlighted once they enter the European top flight next year – the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup competitions.
Currently, the SA salary cap is just ZAR60-million (£3-million).
It is lower than all the countries they will be competing against in Europe next year.
In fact, even the salary caps for New Zealand and Australia (in Super Rugby) are higher.
Below, with the assistance of the UK-based website Ruck, we list the salary caps from lowest to highest.
(We list them in Pound Sterling and SA Rand)
7. URC (South Africa) = £3-million (ZAR60-million)
6. Super Rugby (New Zealand & Australia) = £3.2-million (ZAR64-million)
5. URC (Scotland) = £4.2-million (ZAR83-million)
4. URC (Wales) = £5-million (ZAR99-million)
3. Premiership (England) = £5-million (ZAR99-million)
2. URC (Ireland) = £6.6-million (ZAR131-million)
1. Top 14 (France) = £10-million (ZAR199-million)
@rugby365com, with additional reporting from ruck.co.uk
