37 of last season's Premiership players still have no new contract
The Rugby Players’ Association have confirmed that an entire squad’s worth of last season’s Gallagher Premiership players – including Virimi Vakatawa – are still without a contract just three weeks before the start of the 2024/25 season.
Of the 185 players who left their top-flight clubs at the end of last season, 70 had no contract to move on to – a total slightly down from last summer’s record high of 80 left in the lurch.
With the new campaign commencing on September 20 with defending champions Northampton visiting beaten finalists Bath and Bristol due to travel to last season’s strugglers Newcastle, 37 of the 70 players left without a contract at the start of this summer are still hunting for a new deal.
The list features several high-profile players, including former France midfielder Vakatawa. He was released by Pat Lam’s Bristol after just a single season at Ashton Gate.
This lack of opportunity for so many players illustrates how employment opportunities in English rugby’s top flight continue to narrow following the devastating effects of Worcester, Wasps and London Irish going bust throughout the 2022/23 season, reducing the league from 13 to 10 teams.
Luke Cheyne, head of player development and well-being at the RPA, explained: “In the last few years we have lost three squads; 187 players were effectively made redundant and those contracts are effectively no longer available.
“This season we are still feeling the effects of everything that happened in 2022/23 with Wasps, Worcester and London Irish, salary cap changes and so on and so forth.
"We have seen the change to smaller squad sizes, which is a sensible one, and there will probably be a little bit of difficulty whilst those changes happen.”
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Mr High Horse.
I reckon there’s another very important reason why NZ wouldn’t want to change eligibility rules.
I believe the AB squad had 6 players who were not born in New Zealand. Thats quite a large number. Rivals the likes of Ireland, France, England, Scotland.
The argument has always been that these foreign born players are products of New Zealand schools and New Zealand rugby.
Opening your eligibility rules and I reckon you’ll lose a big part of that pipeline of youngsters from the pacific to Europe and Japan who’ll leave soon after turning pro.
And why not if you can play Top 14 or premiership rugby and still be selected for NZ.
Keeping your adopted citizens loyal to you is obviously quite useful.
Lecture me about moral bankruptcy.
Go to commentsAs long as he remains injury free, Jordan will break the record.
The age of 27 is meaningless.
Doug Howlet did not slow down at age 27, he signed a contract with Munster and was no longer eligible for AB selection
Jeff Wilson did not slow down at age 27, he left rugby to play cricket.
Jonah Lomu kidneys tragically gave out on him due to illness.
Chritian Cullen had a series of knee injuries.
Julian Savea and Joe Rokocoko ate themselves out of a jersey with significant weight gains.
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