Wasps confirm players have taken substantial wage cut
Wasps players have agreed a 25 per cent wage cut to help the club balance its books during the season suspension to combat the coronavirus outbreak. The Gallagher Premiership is currently on a five-week break but there is every likelihood that the current layoff could continue for much longer.
The RFU have already called a halt to the 2019/20 season with immediate effect for every level of rugby in England below the Premiership. Fearing likewise could potentially happen to the top flight, Wasps have revealed they are cutting their financial cloth in a measure likely to be followed by numerous other Premiership clubs. Worcester have already done so, confirming they too have trimmed their squad wage bill.
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In an opening letter, Wasps chief executive Stephen Vaughan said: “Having discussed this situation at length with my colleagues from across the league, as well as Premiership Rugby, we are putting in place salary reductions of 25 per cent across the majority of the rugby department until we are playing Gallagher Premiership matches again.
"These measures will take effect from April 1. A number of lower-paid staff will be excluded from these salary reductions.
“As everyone is aware, we are living through extraordinary times and none of us can predict the future or speculate when the current situation will end.
“As a club and business, we are having to make difficult decisions to navigate these uncharted waters and ensure the club is in a position to continue its exciting journey when we come through this global emergency.
“We would all love the season to be back underway immediately, but all rugby activities are currently suspended and there are no guarantees as to when we might start playing again.
“In light of the latest advice and information from the Government, along with the pattern of escalation we have seen in the last few days, businesses around the world are being heavily impacted and we, Wasps, are no different.
“With this in mind, we need to take some extremely difficult and significant action to reduce costs immediately so we can resume doing what we love when this is all over. The impact of these decisions is going to be felt across the whole business.
“I spoke with Lee Blackett and senior members of the playing squad last night, and we then communicated this message to the wider team and colleagues.
“I could not be more proud of their response, understanding and determination to help the club in such testing times. The same is true of the players’ efforts to support our wider community stay connected and keep talking, which I am sure you will be aware of.
“These are extraordinary times which call for extraordinary and robust measures. We do not know with any certainty how long these reductions will be in place, but we will review the situation on an ongoing basis and continue to keep the entire Wasps family up to date with developments.
“This great club has a proud history spanning over 150 years and, with everyone working together, we will ensure it has a great future.”
Worcester also admitted their players have taken a wage cut. "We have long-term plans to make the club sustainable through the development of the Sixways site which is making real progress with the support of our local authority," read a club statement.
"In the short-term, all our staff will take a 25 per cent pay cut effective from April 1. The 25 per cent reduction will not apply to staff below a certain salary threshold to ensure they are protected. We have offered as much support as we can to any member of staff who may suffer particular hardship as a consequence."
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Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
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