Eddie Jones fears England stars will skip Six Nations to play in Saracens’ relegation scrap
EDDIE JONES fears England’s Saracens stars may skip the Six Nations to fight their club’s relegation battle.
Shamed Sarries yesterday confirmed they have decided not to appeal a £5.36million fine and record 35-point deduction.
The European champions were busted by Premiership Rugby chiefs over salary cap breaches involving stars such as England aces Owen Farrell (left), Billy Vunipola and his brother Mako.
Premiership rivals have slammed the Londoners, with furious Exeter chairman Tony Rowe calling for them to be relegated.
And Jones (above, right), who was Sarries’ director of rugby in 2008-09, admitted: “It could have a significant impact. It’s something we need look at very carefully.
“Obviously, there may be some dislocation between Saracens players and the rest of the clubs.
“So we may have to work a bit harder to mend those relationships and there might be some Saracens players who feel they have got to play for their club instead of their country, to make sure they don’t go down.”
The punishment — for consistently breaching the salary cap limit of £7m per term — drops Sarries into a season-long relegation battle.
Despite winning three of their first four league games this campaign, they are bottom on -22 points, 26 adrift of Leicester in 11th and a further point behind tenth-placed Wasps.
Chairman Nigel Wray said: “We have made mistakes and so, with humility, we must accept these penalties.
“We will now pull together and meet the challenges that lie ahead.
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“We confirm our commitment to the salary cap and the underlying principle of a level playing field, and will work transparently with Premiership Rugby in this regard.”
Wray decided not appealing would be for the “good of the game”.
And he added: “I must take full responsibility for the arrangements that led to this outcome. Our excellent coaching staff were not involved in any way.”