Saracens and their manipulation of salary cap taking rugby to a really bad place

Whatever about losing the World Cup final, English rugby had every right to be feeling good about itself and the future of the game after a successful tournament in Japan — until, of course, they found themselves with a PR nightmare on their hands with revelations about Saracens and their manipulation of the Premiership salary cap.

Salary stories have been doing the rounds about Saracens to such an extent that it was hard to feign surprise when the sanction was announced by authorities. Mark McCall will be relieved to get down to European business this weekend in Paris against Racing 92.