Adam Radwan re-signed with Newcastle Falcons, while Luke Cowan-Dickie got his chance at Sale Sharks Photo: Getty Images < p>The new Premier League rugby season begins on Friday when Bristol Bears take on Leicester Tigers at Ashton Gate. Ahead of the opening weekend matches, we took a closer look at how the teams are preparing for the new season.
The first part of our report on how teams are coping with the salary cap was published yesterday, looking at Bath, Bristol Bears, Exeter Chiefs, Gloucester and Harlequins. Part two of the series is below: Click on the following links to go directly to our analysis of your team's off-season.
Leicester Tigers, Newcastle Falcons, Northampton Saints, Sale Sharks and Saracens.
Leicester Tigers
Ejected player:Handre Pollard
Taking a punch has been the theme of the last 10 months for Leicester and careful planning has helped them thrive despite an incredible effort from England to their entire coaching team.
Recruitment for the current campaign began two weeks after Freddie Burns scored at Twickenham in July 2022. Kyle Hatherell, then of Worcester Warriors, was secured as a priority signing by Steve Borthwick, and former London Irish striker Ollie Hassell-Collins was another to be selected long before his club plunged into financial crisis. After Wooster's passing, Hatherell was encouraged to go to La Rochelle, in part because there was no immediate need to integrate him.
Kyle Hatherell was Steve Borthwick's top priority for the 2023–24 season. Photo: Getty Images
Meanwhile, the retention process was well underway and the Tigers had roped in a talented group that included Ollie Chessum, Dan Kelly, Freddie Steward, James Whitcombe and Jack van Poortvliet. As both Saracens and Exeter Chiefs have discovered, maintaining promising academic results is like spinning plates because simultaneous wage spikes must be covered by the cap.
As an example, Steward moved from an academic contract to a decent contract. about £250,000. The defender is an interesting case because he will be more highly valued at a club where the strategy is territorial.
Speaking of strategy, Dan McKellar's methods — and their suitability for the existing Leicester team — were considered in the process of replacing Borthwick. The Australian rolled up his sleeves as soon as he left the Wallabies, participating in numerous morning and late-night Zoom calls with Richard Wilkes.
Wilkes himself was appointed general manager with an appointment at the club. James Wade as head of the rugby partnership. Wade will work with Wilkes on player selection and oversee the playing program of players below the first team, such as those on loan from the Tigers.
Opportunism has played a key role in Leicester's post-Covid recovery, with Mike Brown and Chris Ashton having two success stories in terms of short-term transfers. Charlie Atkinson was also involved after the collapse of Wasps. The Tigers will have no need for international or domestic signings, and McKellar did have opportunities to add to his roster. He has accumulated familiar players in Sam Carter, Joe Powell and Solomona Kata. All three are former Brumbies players and each adds depth to the positions the Tigers have players in in international competition.
The acquisitions of savvy rower Matt Rogerson, the old London Irish skipper, and Josh Bassett brought know-how, while Kieran Wilkinson and Elliot Gourley arrived from Sale Sharks. Gourlay, a senior Scotland international, deserves a look.
Leicester lost favorites Ashton, Calum Green and Harry Potter in the summer but are already in the thick of big business. Work on contract extensions for George Martin and Jasper Wiese is believed to be well underway, with the energetic Springboks back-rower believed to have been offered a significant deal.
While the finer details are yet to be finalized, that's not all. thought there was hope that Anthony Watson would also continue his career at Tigers.
Newcastle Falcons
Excluded player:None
Mateo Carreras' contract expires at the end of this season. Photo: Getty Images
The mid-season departures of George McGuigan and Trevor Davison during the 2022–23 campaign confirmed that Matt Thompson, Newcastle's chairman of rugby, was tasked with cutting wage costs. Over time, Alex Tate and Will Welch retired, and the Falcons said goodbye to a large number of regular first-team players. Among the most attractive were Sean Robinson, Gary Graham, Mickey Young, Greg Peterson, Carl Ferns and Lair Mulipola.
Consolidating the squad around promising local lads is a clear intention with the trio of England internationals Jamie Blamire, Callum Cheek and Adam Radwan all signing contract extensions. Chick and Radwan are considered to be at the top of the salary structure. The latter signed a three-year deal, which is a coup for Newcastle given that raw speed is always in demand. As for the upcoming prospects, high hopes are placed on fullback Guy Pepper and fullback Ben Redshaw.
The Falcons are clearly competing against teams with bigger budgets and they need to be nice. Argentina's players offer value for money when it comes to top-tier Test stars, with Eduardo Bello joining the Pumas quartet already at Newcastle of Pedro Rubiolo, Matias Moroni, Matias Orlando and Mateo Carreras. Carreras, who scored 14 goals last season, including a stunning goal at Northampton, is out of contract this summer.
Sam Cross, mobile flanker, midfielder Josh Thomas and defense coach Scott Baldwin, who has retired from playing, also make up the trio of players acquired from Ospreys. The relatively low cost of living in the North East is known to be used as a recruiting tool and Alex Codling, the new head coach, moved quickly to sign John Hawkins from Jersey.
Likewise, Rory Jennings took charge of A1 after something of a breakthrough campaign for the London Irish. Although at 27, Jennings is no spring chicken, he is a former England age-group cap and has come through several senior clubs in the Premier League, Championship and Top 14. Last season he found a niche as a tough, ball-handling player. in the middle and Newcastle grabbed it.
Northampton Saints
Likely ruled out player:Courtney Lawes
Although they will be disappointed with the way their Premiership campaign ended, losing 38-15 to Saracens, Phil Dawson's side pulled off a couple of tough goals to reach the play-offs. . Dan Biggar left for Toulon in November and Courtney Lawes, another of the highest paid players, has been out for most of the season.
Saints are another team that, on the surface at least, appears well thought out and put together. Paul Shields is well known as the head of recruitment and their deals exude meaning. The departures of Biggar, Matt Proctor, David Ribbans and Mike Heywood have left obvious holes in the spine of their team. But convincing points have been made.
Fin Smith, who was a target anyway, came on board as Worcester Warriors collapsed before Biggar left for France. Burger Odendaal, formerly of Wasps, will be the center of midfield. Temo Mayanavanua, a Fiji player, was signed from Lyon in a deal believed to be worth around £200,000 per year. Curtis Langdon returns to the Premier League from Montpellier, where he took refuge after the Worcester debacle.
Northampton were already tracking Chunya Munga and Tarek Haffar, a pair of London Irish academy graduates, when financial disaster allowed them to leave. Tom Pearson was another exile who moved to the East Midlands. The marauding defender is believed to earn around £250,000, but Saints have had some wiggle room following the surprise departure of Lujan Salakay-Loto, who is believed to have earned more. Salakaya-Lotho immediately left the country in May, admitting he had a «heavy heart» and citing his family trying to settle away from Australia.
It would be nice to keep Juarno August and Courtney Laws. The former said a contract extension was «incredibly easy» and Laws, fueled in part by a desire to contribute after injury in 2022-23, is understood to have agreed to a pay cut to remain at his boyhood club. The Saints pride themselves on developing their own strengths, such as Fraser Dingwall. Watch out for Henry Pollock, breakaway flanker, running scrum-half Archie McParland and speeding fullback George Hendy.
Saints are believed to have two important retention priorities. Alex Mitchell and Lewis Ludlam, two of the club's three representatives in England's current World Cup squad, are out of contract at the end of the season.
Sale Sharks
Possible eliminated player:Nick Schonert
A player who moves between Premier League clubs cannot be kept out of his new team's salary cap for two years, so Sale must still match George Ford's £550,000 salary cap. Alex Sanderson makes no secret of the fact that he's been working himself to the limit, so he had to change a few things.
The early departure of Jono Ross appears to have freed up funds to retain Manu Tuilagi, who was a cut player for the 2022/23 season. Sam Bedlow is a good addition to the midfield, which was needed given that both Sam Hill and Ryan Mills were part of the contingent to be released. Meanwhile, Will Cliff and Byron McGuigan are two more loyal servants who have retired.
Although they also signed Ernst van Rijn and Telusa Veinu, the latter a close friend of Tuilagi, Sale has apparently made room for a bountiful stream of academy graduates. Gus Warr and Joe Carpenter, for example, were two of the best last season. Hooker was an area where quite quick thinking was required.
Ewen Ashman was courted by the Scottish Rugby Union and was announced to be signing for Edinburgh in April, giving Sale a comfortable six-figure transfer fee. Acker van der Merwe was another player who headed home, joining the Bulls in South Africa. The seller likes their hookers to be tenacious, which gives them focus. Fortunately, due to various circumstances, two such players were found.
Luke Cowan-Dickie has been able to stay in England despite the high-profile failure of his lucrative move to Montpellier and, although on a one-year deal, is believed to be on a higher salary than at Exeter Chiefs. Agustin Creevy was also keen to remain in the UK following the London Irishman's passing to pursue a coaching career. Although Sale will remain on the hooker market next season, they have built a strong reserve and senior sources are confident the squad will remain in place for the next two or three years.
Ford's future will be the subject of speculation in the coming months, with reports in France have linked him with Racing 92. The last time he transferred clubs from Leicester Tigers to Sale in the summer of 2020, it was part of a half-hearted spree. -a departure affecting a quarter of the Premier League match.
Saracens
Likely ruled out players: Owen Farrell and Maro Itoje
Tom Willis is settling in at Saracens after pre-season training with England. Photo: Getty Images
If fully vindicated, Saracens will attract scrutiny whenever they are linked with recognizable players. However, the defending champions have adapted to their bad old days. “They are much whiter than whites,” one source suggested. “They just have to be.”
Last year's recruitment and retention process essentially boiled down to Billy Vunipola exercising the plus-one option in his contract amid interest from France and Japan. Previously, Mark McCall had agreed terms with Tom Parton, Gareth Simpson and Tom Willis to strengthen Saracens' spine. They could not compete with the offer that Bristol Bears made to Max Malins for around £360,000 and they had to give up valuable academy product.
Ben Earl, Elliot Daly and Jamie George extended their contracts by a year , and Billy Vunipola eventually followed suit. Then, at the end of the season, it was confirmed that Jackson Ray and Duncan Taylor would retire. Sean Maitland remained, but other departures included Robin Hislop, Ruben de Haas, Eduardo Bello, Francois Hougaard and Ethan Lewis.
There has been no contract extension news for either Owen Farrell or Maro Itoje since 2020, meaning both could remain outside the cap. When various loans are taken into account, this means Saracens' total wage bill could be around £8m.
Nick Kennedy has been head of recruitment for five years and Saracens have secured even more lucrative deals. Tom West, formerly of Wasps, joined them from Leicester Tigers before they brought in three former London Irish first-row players. Juan Martín González and Lucio Cinti, both Argentina starters, do not believe their combined salaries on their original contracts amounted to more than £150,000 a season. Australia international Ollie Hoskins is believed to have been brought on board due to a neck injury suffered by Alec Clary.
On paper, Saracens look stronger than last season and are hoping for a chance to reach the European Cup final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It could be a fitting last dance as Daly, Farrell, George, Itoje, Billy and Mako Vunipola are believed to be among those out of contract this summer.
Even if Saracens simplify their squad in response to a 10-team Premier League and fewer international clashes, one suspects something will have to give somewhere. No one would have begrudged any of these six players an overseas salary, but Earl signed up for more. Saracens announced this week that the England flanker has agreed to a new 'long-term contract'.
Finally, a word about rough diamonds. Theo McFarland has developed into a sensational player for Saracens, while Sam Asotasi joined the club's academy in August. Stockier than McFarland at 6ft 2in, the defender was loaned out to Ampthill for the Championship game.
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