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Chiefs off to HQ

Stuffy

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It's quite an achievement to be more disliked than Leicester!
I think you might find that London Irish RFC dislike Bath far more than Leicester simply because as every time the unfortunate "Not-Nots" get relegated Bath regularly move in and filch their best players - Joe Cokanasiga being the latest in quite a list.

With Worcester looking handy this season the "Irish" might be in peril of the drop again which means the Barf vultures will be circling again.
 

Stuffy

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Even weirder (although some might say predictable) that Premiership Rugby did nothing about it for another three years !
I do remember Bath getting a mention a few years back. Another club with a moneybags owner.
I believe Bruce Craig the autocratic owner of Bath threatened to take Premiership Rugby to the European court if they treated them too harshly and named them. In the end they weren't issued with a fine but each were given less of the TV monies than the non-offending clubs so nothing showed up in the books that could identify them.

As for Nigel Wray the £450m boss of Saracens. In layman terms I believe he entered into co-investments arrangements with (4?) of his top stars and that he failed to show that these co-investments are not a benefit in kind that break the cap.
 

Stuffy

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Chiefs had to dig deep before running out 22-31 winners at Leicester.

Am hoping that London Irish can do a job on Bath when they run out against them at Reading's Madejski stadium tomorrow. The Irish supporters hold Bath in pretty low regard as on past occasions when Irish got relegated, Bath was always on hand to cream off their best players.
 

Stuffy

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Premiership Rugby seem to at least want to be seen as acting tough, as reportedly they are asking Saracens to open their books for a mid season audit. However they have yet to determine whether they can legally force Sarries to comply should they refuse ! You would have really expected them to check that out first, doh !
And now this CB...

 

Grecian2K

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Sorry but IMHO the whole Rugby Union Premiership set up is a totally corrupt construct, expressly aimed to preserve the old pals act.

Now, with some of the big fish (if not the Sharks!) in real danger of the drop there are renewed moves being proposed (yet again) to pull up the drawbridge and remove promotion/relegation from the equation.
 

Stuffy

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Sorry but IMHO the whole Rugby Union Premiership set up is a totally corrupt construct, expressly aimed to preserve the old pals act.

Now, with some of the big fish (if not the Sharks!) in real danger of the drop there are renewed moves being proposed (yet again) to pull up the drawbridge and remove promotion/relegation from the equation.
Few would deny that when you consider how those who sat in judgment the last time around refused to name the miscreants whose names only saw the light of day when the chairmen of the nine innocent clubs released statements proclaiming they had remained within the cap. This effectively left Bath, Leicester Tigers and Saracens high and dry. To further muddy the waters it seems they tried to hide the fines imposed on the three by reducing their share of the monies paid by television so money changing hands didn't show up in their accounts. Exeter's Tony Rowe was livid because the twelve chairmen had sat down and agreed to abide by the cap rules only for Saracens to continue with their jiggery-pokery.

Shortly there is going to be a fresh review chaired by Lord Myners although if you look at some of the comments following the Daily Mail's article there is a concern that more dodgy dealing might be in the pipeline.

 
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