Rugby Australia 'are going to go heavy' on Will Skelton following Saracens salary cap scandal

Rugby Australia have declared they "are going to go heavy" in pursuing former Wallabies lock Will Skelton in the wake of the Saracens salary cap scandal.

The north London club have confirmed they will be looking to offload players as a result of three-year salary cap breach which has earned the reigning English and European champions automatic relegation into next season's Championship.

Saracens had already received a 35-point reduction in the Premiership and a £5.36 million fine for exceeding the £7 million salary cap over the past three seasons.

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After failing to comply with salary cap regulations, Saracens opted for demotion after being given the choice of a season in the Championship or opening up their books for a forensic audit and handing back their Premiership trophies for two of the last three campaigns.

While their domestic title ambitions are all but nullified, a tilt at successive Champions Cup crowns is still on the cards following Saracens' 27-24 defeat of Racing 92 last weekend.

However, their bid for consecutive European titles may have to be done without a swagger of key players as many of the club's star men may not be at Allianz Park beyond May.

“Of course there are going to be changes,” said Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said on Sunday.

“There’s no doubt the bunch of players we’ve got in our squad now aren’t going to be the same bunch of players we have in the Championship next year. That’s for sure.

“In many ways this is the end of that era that dates back to the start of 2009. We have got some time to plan for a new era, a new journey, and that is the optimistic way of looking at it.”

Star Welsh fullback Liam Williams has already confirmed he will rejoin PRO14 side Scarlets at the end of the current campaign, while it's understood that British and Irish Lions lock George Kruis will leave for Japan in the coming months to ease Saracens' financial burden.

After having played 18 tests for the Wallabies between 2014 and 2016, Skelton could join the duo in the departures lounge given that he is not qualified to play for England.

Additionally, Fox Sports reports that the 27-year-old is earning close to £400,000 per year at Saracens, making him a leading candidate to be shown the door by the end of the season.

Skelton's exit from Saracens could open up the door for Rugby Australia to swoop in and land the 2.03m, 125kg behemoth following an unsuccessful attempt to do so leading into last year's World Cup.

Speaking to The Australian, RA director of rugby Scott Johnson said the governing body were eager to bring Skelton home.

“I can’t see them keeping anywhere near that team together and because he [Skelton] is not ­English, he will be one of the first under the spotlight,” Johnson said.

“We have spoken to his agent, and we are going to go heavy this week."