English Rugby / Ralph Ellis / 09 January 2009 / Leave a comment

The massed ranks of stars exiting English rugby suggests the salary cap is not working, says Ralph Ellis.

There are many who think that football should impose a salary cap on its clubs. The Football League have already moved towards a limit on total pay in the lower divisions that's based on a proportion of turnover. There are those who think the principle should be extended higher up the scale. Cristiano Ronaldo crashing a two-day old Ferrari only supports the prejudice that top stars are massively overpaid.

But the people who support that idea might do well to look at what's happening in rugby union. The English clubs in the Guinness Premiership have got a salary cap in place, the French clubs don't. And surprise, surprise, the best players are beginning to head to Dover to get on the first available ferry!

Sale are the latest club to find themselves a victim of the brawn drain as their ex-Scotland captain Jason White accepts a big money offer to take him to Clermont-Auvergne. And club coach Kingsley Jones has been admitting to this morning's Daily Express that there is little Sale can do to stop White or other players taking the money and running.

"If someone leaves us for another Premiership club I'll be very disappointed, but I'm more philosophical about French clubs," he says.

"Why not go to France and take the money? I understand Jason will be missed but he has a great opportunity."

He's following a trend from his club, director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre and number eight Sebastien Chabal are preparing to go home. According to the Express's rugby man Steve Bale it's only a matter of time before front-rowers Sebastien Bruno and Lionel Faure will follow.

"The pound was 1.5 Euros when we signed those guys - I never thought I'd be talking economics and my maths teacher would be proud of me but it's common sense when the euro is now almost like for like."

The disruption won't help Sale - who face leaders London Irish tonight - and shouldn't be as short as [1.66], especially with White ruled out of the game because of a finger injury. The Sharks are also without England scrum half Richard Wigglesworth, even though they've got a Wales international Dwayne Peel to replace him with.

It's not only the players who are being attracted by the bigger money on offer in France, however. The Daily Mail's Peter Jackson reports that Bristol's coach Richard Hill is being tempted by Montauban, who were promoted last season to the top 14 Le Championnat.

Hill is reported as confirming: "I do not want to comment beyond saying that I do have options in France next season. I will not allow anything to distract me from the job of keeping Bristol up."

It might not distract him, but you can be sure the uncertainty will worry his players and together with their massive financial problems it makes Bristol a very safe bet to finish bottom at [1.75].

Salary caps are great if the whole sport follows them. But the best players - and coaches - will always migrate to the biggest money and in an international game that creates huge problems. What's happening in rugby should be an example of why they won't work - and not that they will.

Five things you might not know about Richard Hill...

1. Born in Birmingham in 1961 but brought up in Bristol, he played his rugby as a scrum half - so don't confuse him with the England flanker Richard Hill. It's easy, they both went to the same school, Bishop Wordsworth Grammar in Salisbury

2. He spent all his playing career at Bath, scoring 260 points in 248 games

3. His nickname as a player was 'duracell' because he kept going longer than most - and trained full time even though the game was still amateur when he first started playing

4. He won 29 England caps and was captain in the 1987 season - but lost the job as punishment for a four-lettered team talk before a game with Wales in Cardiff that ended in a brawl

5. His coaching career started in charge of the England Students team.