‘Saracens should be relegated’ says Exeter Chiefs owner Tony Rowe over salary cap verdict Exclusive: Saracens were docked 35 points and fined a record £5.4m over breaching the salary cap, but the Chiefs head says it’s not enough

Tony Rowe has just come out of an overrunning board meeting at Exeter Chiefs‘ Sandy Park ground and is in no mood for compromise.

The chief executive and chairman of the Devon Premiership club has been seething since his rivals at Saracens were handed a record fine of almost £5.4m and docked 35 Premiership points after being found in breach of the salary cup rules earlier this month.

As Saracens have now accepted the punishment from Premiership Rugby you might have thought Rowe would be in a more relaxed frame of mind. But, no. He still believes Saracens have not been punished enough.

“They should be relegated,” he says. “They’re cheats. It’s a simple as that. They brought the game into disrepute.”

Rowe also questions whether Saracens will breach the cap this year, despite his counterpart at the north London club insisting they are.

When Saracens chairman Nigel Wray revealed the club would not contest the punishment, he said: “We can confirm that we are complying strictly with the salary cap regulations in the current season and will continue to work with Premiership Rugby in this regard.”

However, Rowe is not so sure.

“Well, he would say that wouldn’t he. And technically he’s right, but he’s being very careful with his words. Saracens are within the salary cap now, but that’s because we’re still very early into the season, and they haven’t spent everything yet. The salary cap isn’t measured until the end of the season, and as far as I can see their squad is, if anything, even stronger than last season.”

Like every other club, Saracens is permitted to spend £7m on players, with additional payments made for players going on international duty and credits for bringing through academy players into the first 15.

Oddly, for someone so vocal about at Saracens’ misdemeanors Rowe says he likes Wray.

“I’ve always got on with him. I like him,” he says. “But I don’t know if we’ll get along now, considering what I’ve said. I haven’t spoken with him since the ruling.”

The two men could very well come face to face for the first time since the salary cap ruling when Premiership chairman get together for their next meeting in January, and Rowe is expecting some fireworks.

“I would be surprised if there is not something on the agenda regarding the salary cap rules,” says Rowe. “We, and I think many other clubs, would support a more robust system, making sure clubs remain within the salary cap.”

Rowe would also like to see even tougher punishments for clubs who breach it, and is encouraging a retrospective change to the rules to add to Saracens most recent sanction.

“Saracens should have their titles taken away. Their names should be taken off the Premiership trophy for the seasons they won it while being in breach of the cap. We’re not saying we should have the trophies at all, but they should not have their name on the trophy because they won those titles by cheating.

Rowe’s very public criticism of Saracens would be all the more extraordinary if he was not certain his own club are operating within the pay rules.

“Of course I’m bloody certain we’re within the salary cap,” he says. “I wouldn’t be bloody saying all this about Saracens if I wasn’t certain we play by the rules.”

Rowe’s anger is understandable. Chiefs have, arguably, suffered most from Saracens’ salary indiscretions. Chiefs have been in the showpiece Twickenham Premiership final for the past four seasons, winning only once when they beat Wasps in 2017. They lost all the other three to Saracens.

There has been talk of Exeter launching a legal challenge against Saracens to recoup revenue the club could have secured had they been three time Premiership champions, but Rowe will not discuss that..

“I have no comment on that,” he says, but doesn’t rule it out. Neither is he ruling out refusing to play Saracens until they can prove they are operating within the salary cap.

“I’m not commenting on that either. As you know, they’re due here on 29 December for a game that sold out ages ago.”

It would be an extraordinary step if Rowe did pull his players out of the game, but his ire towards Saracens is so fervent that you would be foolish to rule it out.

Rowe is not alone in considering whether or not to play Saracens if they cannot show they are within the pay rules, as other club bosses also have concerns, but to pull out of a game could backfire.

Not only would Chiefs lose hundreds of thousands in refunded tickets and lost food and drink sales at the ground when Saracens are due to show up for the post Christmas match, Rowe would also find himself at the centre of a Premiership disciplinary hearing.Any club refusing to play any game could be charged with bringing the game into disrepute, face a fine and have league points deducted.

Rowe’s tone lightens considerably when talking about other matters when moving onto topics other than Saracens.

While this season’s league form has not been spectacular, with Chiefs winning just two of their first four Premiership games, the team goes into today’s European Champions Cup game off the back of an impressive performance away to La Rochelle last weekend. The French club had not lost any home game since March, but the Devonians secured a comprehensive 31-12 victory.

“We’ve had a bit of a messy start to the season, with a few injuries and missing players during the World Cup,” says Rowe. “But last weekend the guys got their heads back in the right place. Now we’ve got to get on the right side of the score against a good Glasgow team this weekend.

“The thing with Europe is that you’ve got to have strength in depth in your team, and I think we’re getting to that point now.”

Off the field, Chiefs are the only Premiership club to make a profit. Last year the club brought in revenue of just under £20.5m and made a profit of £660,000.

“We have a great team here, and we’ve always run the club as a business and we keep a very close eye on things,” explains Rowe. “I’m surprised other clubs can’t make money if I’m honest. I don’t know why that is.”

The financial success of Chiefs is allowing Rowe to put money into more facilities at Sandy Park.

“We’re ready to begin a hotel in the car park at the south of the ground,” he says. “We’re also going to add 2,000 seats on top of the East Stand next summer, which will bring our capacity to 15,000. But, the fans that love standing there don’t have to worry. The bottom of the stand will remain standing. I don’t think they’d forgive me if we put seats in there as that’s where much of the great atmosphere is created on match day.”

While his excitement at the improvements around at the ground is clear, Rowe is most animated when discussing the club’s new women’s team.

Last weekend, Sandy Park saw England’s Red Roses snatch a last gasp victory against the French Women’s team, and in March the club drew a record crowd of more than 10,500 for the Six Nations clash with Italy.

“We’ve hosted two England Women’s matches here at Sandy Park and it was just fantastic, and we’re about to apply to enter our own women’s team into the Tyrrels Premier 15 league, so hopefully we’ll be playing top level women’s rugby here from next season.”

As the interview comes to an end, Rowe cannot resist a final swipe at Saracens.

“If this was in American sport, they’d be out of the league. It’s as simple as that. They cheated and their actions have affected a lot of other clubs, players and their families. The punishment should fit the crime.”