Brian O’Driscoll believes the European club game could continue to be dominated by French sides while the salary cap remains in England. The former Ireland centre, who retired last year, also claims that more players will move to France after the World Cup.
O’Driscoll won three Heineken Cup titles in four years with Leinster but is expecting both Toulon and Clermont Auvergne to advance to the final of the inaugural European Rugby Champions Cup at Twickenham. Clermont play Saracens in Saint-Etienne on Saturday before the second semi-final between Toulon and Leinster on Sunday.
The Wasps director of rugby, Dai Young, called for a rethink of the salary cap following his side’s 32-18 defeat to Toulon in the quarter-finals earlier this month, with some concerned that wage restrictions for Premiership clubs will hinder their progress in Europe.
O’Driscoll, 36, who expects Clermont to be crowned European champions this season, said that money was a crucial factor in continental competition and that certain academies “aren’t able to live” with the wealthy sides.
Asked how English clubs could prevent French dominance in Europe, O’Driscoll said: “I think you probably have to offer the guys that are going to France some more money. Because it’s their career and you are going to go where the money is. There is a balance between wanting to go somewhere where you might get success, but you’ve also got to look after your future.
“It [the cap] is a big factor, it’s a big factor because money is going to attract the best players. I’d love to see the breakdown of how many Sanzar [South Africa, New Zealand and Australia] team players after the World Cup come to the UK and Ireland and how many go to France. You’d have to imagine the majority will go to France.
“And why is that? Not just for the tan. They are looking to make themselves a little pension and enjoy life down there too I suppose. This is a career, it’s no different to any other career. If you’re offered another £100,000 or £200,000 playing somewhere else the likelihood is you’re going to take it.”
Regarding the Premiership salary cap, he continued: “I don’t know enough about it. I don’t know what it means to certain clubs. Certain clubs are being squeezed so the cap is there to save them. Unless you have a benefactor that comes in and is willing to make a loss, you’re in a bit of a tricky predicament.
“You’ve got to be careful what you do. The English utopia is that each club gets a Roman Abramovich and it’s their pet thing so they are able to extend salary caps and attract the better players. That married with the best of the English academy players coming through, of course they’d be competitive again. But it is going to be a money issue, absolutely. The game is going that way.”
Saracens scraped past Racing Métro in the last eight thanks to a last-gasp penalty from Marcelo Bosch, while Leinster ground out an 18-15 victory against Bath. That win for O’Driscoll’s former side ensured an Irish berth in the European Cup semi-finals for an eighth successive season.
However, O’Driscoll believes Clermont are the strongest side left in the competition and that they could be spurred on by previous failures, having never won the Heineken Cup despite coming so close in 2013.
“They are without a shadow of a doubt the best team that have never won the European Cup. They have been to one final, multiple semis now. Teams that tend to continually knock on the door eventually do win it. I’m not a total believer that you have to feel the pain to feel the upside, but I think it helps for driving desire when it really comes to crunch time in the last 10 minutes, how much you really want it and how much you felt the disappointment before and don’t want that feeling again,” said O’Driscoll.
“If you’re judging a potential winner on the back of the quarter-finals it’s hard to look beyond Clermont because of their appetite, you know they are going to want it. They have been nearly, nearly there. They have been in the hunt too many times and have got a better team now. It’s just can they go to the pressurised position of being in a final, with the expectation. They should have won it two years ago and they butchered it.
“I think there is a dominance there but it doesn’t mean guaranteed French success. Of the two semi-finals the French teams are absolutely firm favourites but there is the possibility of an upset in both games.”
Since 2011 the Rugby Football Union has imposed a policy of not selecting players for England if they play abroad, to stem a potential exodus of talent to the Top 14. Toulon’s Steffon Armitage and Clermont’s Nick Abendanon have been in good form this season, and it remains to be seen if the RFU will utilise the “exceptional circumstances” clause in their rules to call up both players before the World Cup in September.
Asked if it made sense to call up the French-based players, O’Driscoll said: “From a player point of view, yes it would. But if you set out your stall early and have to backtrack a little bit, do you lose a little bit of face by doing that? You create your own stick that you have to beat yourself with in many ways. Personally, I think you play your best players.”
Brian O’Driscoll is an ambassador and rugby expert for BT Sport. Watch Clermont Auvergne v Saracens exclusively live on BT Sport 1 on Saturday from 2.30pm.
