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I keep reading articles and comments that show no knowledge of the changes in professional rugby in France this season or how this will impact the rest of the world.
There was another article recently in Equipe (Les Quotas sont la, 9/8/10) running through the details. Seeing as the French clubs have the biggest budgets and traditionally suck up most of the talented foreign players of the world who are looking for cash, I thought I’d post the details here with a small run down on the potential impact on other countries. The changes are the introduction of a salary cap and a quota of French players in clubs.
For years now the French have been worried about the influx of foreign players into their top 14 sides. More and more clubs with large budgets prefer to import a successful player than take a chance on young inexperienced Frenchmen with the result that the national side, year on year, has fewer choices of experienced players in a variety of positions.
They have finally taken steps to insure a limit on the number of foreign players playing at this level. From this season all French clubs must have a quota of 40 per cent of players on their squad who have come through the French system to increase to 60 per cent over the next two years. As it is illegal under EU law to discriminate for or against employees based solely on their nationality the French rugby federation have got around this by instigating the qualification. This 40 per cent of the squad of any professional club must have spent five years licenced to the FFR (French rugby federation) before the age of 21, or have spent three seasons at a “centre de formation” between the age of 16 and 21. In 2011 this quota will increase to 50 per cent and in 2012 to 60 per cent.
At the same time they have instigated a salary cap (boucler salaire) to try to limit the ballooning salaries in French rugby. From this season there is a limit of €8.1 million for each club for player salaries.
Only a few clubs have objected to the measures (no prizes for guessing who). The reason that so few have objected is because for the majority of the clubs in the Top 14 this current set of limits hardly effects them at all. There are only a few clubs whose budgets exceed the new cap and the majority of clubs also have 40 per cent of players who are French and qualify for the quota. However, in a few years time these changes should start having an impact in France and elsewhere.
The biggest impact that I see the salary having will be in leveling the standard over time in the French league. As the current wealthiest clubs become challenged by those whose funds are yet increasing the standard of the competition should even out, gradually becoming more competitive. As however this salary cap exceeds the present budget of the majority of French clubs, and all the other clubs in Europe it should not currently limit the power of these sides to pick the best players that money can buy. If over time the salary cap is not increased, as has happened in England then this may eventually reduce this buying power.
The quota however should have a serious impact when in two years 60 per cent of all squads must effectively be French. This is still much lower than the Irish limit of five foreign players per squad (except in emergency/injury scenarios) but it will force the French sides to cut back on imports and will probably see them follow the Irish model of hiring a few exceptional players rather than a whole range of levels of player as is currently the case.
Both these measures should improve the standard of rugby in France and the quality of their national team over the coming decade.
The countries outside of France that will be most directly effected by these changes will be those who export the most players there. That is, Britain and Ireland. (Yes really.) Apart from the marquee signings, which include more SH players (or maybe these players just get more headlines) there are more foreign players in France from these countries than any others. This is according to Equipe anyway. From an Irish point of view this is not good news. Typically with decent pay and the tax rebate, it’s the players in Ireland who aren’t getting a chance to play at their provinces who go to France, and typically improve their game there.
Timmy Ryan who went from Munster to Toulon is a good example of this. He came through the academy in Munster but rarely even saw the bench there but his time in Toulon has been great for him and lead him to being signed by Newcastle this year. Britain on the other hand has lost a mix of talent to France and will probably be relieved to see the quota and cap introduced there. However for the average young player from Britain or Ireland wanting to get a break in their career this is going to limit their opportunities.
As for the SH players am i right in thinking that only players who are already successful travel to France for the big wages? If so there is likely to be less of an impact on the player drain North. Correct me if i’m wrong about this.
England will now be unusual in Europe in having no limit on foreign players in its clubs so may take up some of the slack from the French.
So that’s the news from France guys. A new more powerful French era approaches.
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