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The thing that I'm curious to find out is how far up knowledge of this went. Farrell snr. was coaching his son in the England set up when some of this was going on. He must have at least had an inkling, did he discuss it with any of the RFU blazers?
I know the RFU and prem rugby are separate corporate entities but they have a pretty close working relationship.
Bobbo-
Can't imagine we'll ever find that out. Not sure it's entirely relevant either, as you say, they are different entities and their priorities are entirely unaligned.
Worth listening to the Brendan Venter interview on the latest edition of the BBC rugby pod. I mean, he's clearly a massive Sarries apologist and he can obfuscate better than anyone else in the game but he does present another 'visual' for this situation that provides an interest contrast. As with everything, the reality probably falls somewhere in the middle, but I think I probably fall on the side of largely well-meaning mismanagement and a very stubborn reluctance to see their homegrown players leave rather than a calculated and coordinated systematic cheating. But I may very well be wrong and would certainly feel differently if I were an Exeter fan. I'm not a Sarries fan either, btw, but I did enjoy their recent wins in Europe with the majority of the England team...
owl
For sure, this is pretty much what I've heard, was just making the point that these are not all shell-companies and therefore egregious flouting of the rules from the start...