Saints coach West welcomes salary cap rise

Premiership Rugby this week announced that the cap will rise from its current £4.76million to £5.1million from the beginning of next season.

Academy credits, which cover players who are under the age of 24, joined the club before their 18th birthday and are earning more than £30k a year, will increase from £240,000 to £400,000.

And a second marquee player, whose salary falls outside the cap, will also be allowed, though he must not have played in the Premiership during the past 12 months.

Saints chairman Tony Hewitt this week told the Chron that Jim Mallinder would be given the green light to add an extra big-name player to his squad.

And forwards coach West is happy to have more leeway for recruitment.

“It’s good because we’ll have a bit more potential to bring players in,” West said.

“We’re always looking for the right sort of player to add to our squad to improve what we’re doing and nothing changes with regard to that.

“We don’t waste money, we make sure the people we bring in can add to what we’re already doing.”

And he added: “We’re constantly on the lookout, everybody does in this game and even if you’re not looking for anyone at that moment, you’re always looking because you never know what’s around the corner.

“There’s lots of players around and people that we’re interested in but we’ve got a settled squad here at the moment and everyone’s performing well.”

Saints have been a profitable club for more than a decade and the powers-that-be at Franklin’s Gardens have been happy to spend up to the salary cap in recent seasons.

That support has helped Mallinder bring in players such as George North and Alex Corbisiero, and West is grateful for the backing of the board.

“We get great support, we’ve got a great fanbase and the club’s in a good position,” he said.

“The board manage this club expertly, everything’s catered for and they make sure we’ve got the funds to spend to ensure our squad’s as good as it can be.”