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#Post#: 134112--------------------------------------------------
O/T Bath and the salary cap: How they are pulling it off
DIR By: deadlyfrom5yardsout
Date: February 14, 2025, 6:43 am
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In this era of austerity, Telegraph Sport looks at how West
Country club are embracing a more extravagant approach to
recruitment
Charlie Morgan
Senior Rugby Writer.
Ben Coles
Rugby Reporter
13 February 2025 11:00am GMT
Just over five years since Saracens were condemned to relegation
for multiple breaches of the salary cap, we have passed from a
period of Premiership excess into an age of suspicion. And,
currently, it is Bath who find themselves under a collective
glare.
Last week, in the space of two days, the West Country club
announced that Santiago Carreras and Henry Arundell would be
joining them for the 2025-26 campaign. Both signings had been
widely reported already, yet confirmation resulted in several
wisecracks.
Andy Goode is rarely shy of identifying elephants in a room and
communicated what many would have been pondering when Arundell’s
move from Racing 92 was finally heralded. “Anyone checking the
Bath salary cap?” posted the former England fly-half on X.
The question is a fair one. While rivals have cut spending, with
Bristol Bears particularly evangelical about ending their
galáctico era in favour of a streamlined squad, Bath seem to
have consolidated and strengthened.
They were opportunistic in acquiring some of the most exciting
talents from the Premiership sides to have unravelled in 2022,
picking up Ted Hill, Ollie Lawrence and Alfie Barbeary from
Worcester Warriors and Wasps, respectively. Thomas du Toit is
proving to be a phenomenal recruit.
Last summer, Guy Pepper was plucked from Newcastle Falcons and
lock Ross Molony came on board from Leinster on around £250,000
per year. This was after Sam Underhill, Cameron Redpath, Will
Stuart, Max Ojomoh, Charlie Ewels, Josh Bayliss, Tom de
Glanville, Miles Reid, Niall Annett, Will Muir, Archie Griffin
and Joe Cokanasiga had all extended terms.
Ross Molony was lured from Leinster with an annual salary of
around £250,000
All of these salaries, plus plenty more such as that of club
captain Ben Spencer and Lawrence, must be squeezed under the cap
because Finn Russell is Bath’s sole marquee, or ‘exempt’,
player. His pay packet of close to £750,000 is effectively
disregarded from calculations. Even so, it is a reasonable
assumption that there cannot be much wiggle room.
Next season, Arundell and Carreras as well as Dan Frost, the
Exeter Chiefs hooker, and Bernard van der Linde, the Bulls
scrum-half, will need to be accounted for. Others, such as
Lawrence, Spencer and Beno Obano, have renewed.
How did Bath prise Carreras away from Gloucester?
Even if a list of leavers will be released in due course – and
veteran Annett is understood to be among those out of contract –
the curiosity is understandable. Indeed, cynicism has developed
in some quarters. Gloucester tabled the best offer they could to
keep Carreras and another Premiership side is thought to have
made a strong play for the Puma, who will be crossing the West
Country for between £250,000 and £300,000 a year.
It would be reckless for any club to breach regulations that
have grown sharper teeth since Saracens’ transgressions. Bath,
six points clear at the top of the league and burning to avenge
their loss to Northampton Saints in the domestic decider last
season, are on course to expose themselves to greater scrutiny.
For the past few seasons, the Premiership champions have been
subjected to a special audit that encompasses a forensic review
of emails and WhatsApp messages between club officials as well
as tax returns and bank accounts of up to 50 per cent of their
players. Andrew Rogers, the Premiership’s salary-cap director,
has licence to implement whatever “additional action” he sees
fit and sanctions are catastrophic.
As a starting point, the cap limit is perhaps higher than some
realise. Its base is £6.4 million, which rises to £7.8 million
with home-grown player credits (up to £600,000 at £50,000 per
player), international player credits (another £400,000 at up to
£80,000 per player) and £400,000 for injury dispensation. Add in
an exempt player like Russell and clubs have the capacity to
splurge more than £8.5 million. Bath’s expenditure is certainly
attracting more attention because other clubs are being frugal.
Rob Burgess, the former agent who joined Bath as head of
recruitment in 2023, is regarded as an astute operator with
enough nous to address the clutter that had accumulated under
the signing sprees of previous regimes.
One source suggested that Bath have become “shrewd with their
valuations below first-choice”, with others citing creative
“phasing” or back-loading of contracts. This practice has been
rife around the country, particularly as Covid caused the salary
cap to be reduced before.
Usually, when a club signs a player, a fee is agreed and will
stay more or less constant for the term of the contract. With an
up-and-coming player, there might be performance-related
“kickers” that see the value rise, from £150,000 to £170,000 to
£190,000, for example.
Contract back-loading and academy investment
Several sources suggested that Bath will, in effect, be deciding
upon a pay package and using 13 or 25-month contracts. A player
might obtain £120,000 or £130,000 over the first two years of a
deal before receiving a lump sum in the July of their third
year.
Salary-cap rules do average the salaries of marquee players to
prohibit huge sums that are exempt from the cap, but
back-loading other squad members was described as “clever” and
“completely legal”. There is an element of kicking the can down
the road towards a potential date with destiny, which is where a
prolific production line comes in.
Another of Bath’s tactics is aggressive academy investment. Bath
covet what one insider called “truly aligned partnerships” with
nearby schools such as Beechen Cliff and the University of Bath.
Offering game-time in the well-respected BUCS Super Rugby
competition as well as scope for a degree, the latter is an
effective recruitment tool.
Home-grown players are exempt from the Premiership’s academy
salary cap, which allows for a further £100,000 – but no more
than £50,000 per player – to be spent on non-home-grown
additions under the age of 24.
Pepper, already one of the best back-rows around, is thought to
have been bagged from Falcons on an agreement worth close to
£500,000 over three seasons. Crucially, the first year of this
will only see just more than £40,000 count against the academy
cap.
Bath also place great value in the leadership of Johann van
Graan, their head of rugby. Van Graan is an advocate of regular
squad rotation, which will keep fringe players engaged, and
always speaks effusively about his charges.
A coaching team featuring Lee Blackett, JP Ferreira and Richard
Blaze prides itself on improving individuals, while there is an
awareness that medical provision, expert conditioning and
nutrition can all enrich the careers of professional athletes.
The pursuit of trophies is another factor that will mitigate
remuneration to a certain degree, a concept one source termed as
“the old Leicester Tigers tax”. Spencer is thought to have
re-signed on reduced terms of £250,000 or so. Then there is the
carrot of international recognition.
Frost, a former Bath academy lad, is only 27 and could have a
crack at winning an England cap. Telegraph Sport understands
that Arundell will be on around £190,000. His local connections
– he attended Beechen Cliff and comes from a family of Bath
supporters – have been publicised, but a stronger subplot of him
crossing the Channel is whether Steve Borthwick will select him.
The England head coach and Conor O’Shea have both visited Paris
since the last World Cup and the advent of enhanced elite player
squad contracts can directly benefit Premiership sides by
bolstering what they shell out to players.
Lawrence, whose new deal is not thought to have been a huge jump
on his last, is the only Bath man to have received one of those
agreements so far. Stuart and Underhill must have been close.
Arundell, eligible again soon with his return to the
Premiership, possesses the raw speed that Borthwick wants to
inject into his team.
There is a certain irony in how fans will groan about English
clubs failing to build depth yet point fingers when it looks as
though a side might be pushing the boundaries.
The salary cap is a critical plank of the Premiership’s
integrity. And should Bath get where they want to go and clinch
the top prize, they will need to open the books and accept a
thorough inspection anyway.
#Post#: 134124--------------------------------------------------
Re: O/T Bath and the salary cap: How they are pulling it off
DIR By: poorfour
Date: February 14, 2025, 8:40 am
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It's a good article, but one of these points are rocket science
or unknown to the other clubs, so it doesn't really address how
Bath are assembling a squad that seems to have a lot more depth
than most clubs.
The back end loading point is probably the most material point
of difference, in that other clubs may not have ramped their
contracts so aggresively. If Bath are doing that while staying
below the cap, we should also see some quite aggressive squad
changes from them each season as players move up the salary
scale.
#Post#: 134125--------------------------------------------------
Re: O/T Bath and the salary cap: How they are pulling it off
DIR By: SiB
Date: February 14, 2025, 8:41 am
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Maybe we will be in the same boat soon, mind you will need to
seek tickets for £110
#Post#: 134168--------------------------------------------------
Re: O/T Bath and the salary cap: How they are pulling it off
DIR By: Which Tyler
Date: February 15, 2025, 7:07 am
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--- Quote from: poorfour link ---
>
> It's a good article, but one of these points are rocket
science or unknown to the other clubs, so it doesn't really
address how Bath are assembling a squad that seems to have a lot
more depth than most clubs.
>
--- End Quote ---
The answer that one is quite easy - most clubs aren't spending
up to the cap.
Compare the Bath squad to another club who are spending up to
the cap, and the differences... aren't striking (IMO)
Compare the Bath squad to Saracens at a time that they were
cheating, and the differences... are clear and obvious (IMO)
As for the signings to arrive next year and "how can they afford
that?" any club that's spending up to the cap, that announces
incomings, but not (yet) outgoings, is going to look very
suspicious - because it's not balanced (yet). The time to judge
that is when we know all of the new signings, and all of the
releases.
#Post#: 134212--------------------------------------------------
Re: O/T Bath and the salary cap: How they are pulling it off
DIR By: Camquin
Date: February 15, 2025, 1:43 pm
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I can point to two clubs not spending to the cap, Newcastle and
Exeter.
I am pretty certain the other 8 are hitting the cap.
#Post#: 134213--------------------------------------------------
Re: O/T Bath and the salary cap: How they are pulling it off
DIR By: Brown Bottle
Date: February 15, 2025, 1:50 pm
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--- Quote from: Camquin link ---
>
> I can point to two clubs not spending to the cap, Newcastle
and Exeter.
> I am pretty certain the other 8 are hitting the cap.
>
--- End Quote ---
I thought Bristol had cut back.
#Post#: 134214--------------------------------------------------
Re: O/T Bath and the salary cap: How they are pulling it off
DIR By: Which Tyler
Date: February 15, 2025, 1:52 pm
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--- Quote from: Camquin link ---
>
> I can point to two clubs not spending to the cap, Newcastle
and Exeter.
> I am pretty certain the other 8 are hitting the cap.
>
--- End Quote ---
Bristol and Gloucester both comfortably below.
I don't think Northampton made any claims, but they lost a lot
of well played players, and replaced with a bunch of Who?
Some clubs suggested that they were going to increase spending
from last season, but not the full £1.4M(?) increase (which
makes a degree of sense as most rugby contracts aren't 1 year
deals, and if you're paying the existing squad more, you'd want
to keep some in reserve for future years). IIRC Sale, Leicester
and Sarries were in that bracket.
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