The sudden and dramatic rise of any club to the Premiership from the ashes of failure owes much to its rich owner and also the ability to bend the rules. For just as Harlequins were not the only team using blood capsules, I’m sure Sarries are not the only ones to have bent the salary rules.
The thing is, even though I feel Saracens were more than a little hard done by, they, like Quins, got caught and took their punishment. However, what happens if there is no real Championship this season is another matter.
Even though in all probability they would have bounced straight back to the Premiership had the full Championship season taken place, the fact they haven’t actually won the league means they should stay where they are.
There has been a deathly silence from all involved, PRL the RFU, and the club itself, and yet we have had stories of a freeze on relegation for this season.
The problem for the Premiership is, if there is a relegation freeze, Saracens should be unable to be promoted even if the Championship were to start and they won unless there is an unfair increase in the top-flight numbers just to accommodate Saracens.
If a player is suspended for any offense at the end of the season, they have to serve their bans when the game resumes. I assume that is probably true for those players who were banned just before the shutdown of the sport last March?
This story is from the January 24, 2021 edition of The Rugby Paper.
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This story is from the January 24, 2021 edition of The Rugby Paper.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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