Premiership Rugby alters salary cap to boost home-grown talent

Premiership Rugby has confirmed a series of changes to the Aviva Premiership salary cap from the 2015-16 season, designed to boost the number of home-grown players in the league.

This year, the number of England qualified players in Aviva Premiership Rugby passed 70 per cent for the first time, but the league’s lawmakers are eager to drive that figure higher.

Buoyed by increased television revenues, the league will raise the salary cap to £5.1m for the 2015/16 season, with clubs able to nominate up to two 'excluded players,' whose salaries are not included in the capped amount. This is designed to ensure clubs can afford to retain their top English players, after several high-profile stars have been lured overseas with lucrative contract offers in recent years, most notably from French clubs.

The 2015/16 season will also see the introduction of home-grown player credits, whereby clubs can increase the new £5.1m cap by as much as £400,000, depending on the number of England-qualified youngsters to have graduated from a club’s academy into its first team squad.

"The increase in the base level of the salary cap will help our clubs to retain English talent. Also the introduction of home-grown player credits helps the enviable production line that has been established from our academies to our Premiership squads and on to England,” said Premiership Rugby chief executive Mark McCafferty.

"England and their clubs are getting stronger because of our commitment to the development of world class England players in Aviva Premiership Rugby; the most competitive league in the world. It is an essential part of our league and the strength of our system.”