Aviva Premiership round-up: George Ford stays quiet on salary cap breach allegations

Bath beat old West Country rivals Gloucester 39-16 at Kingsholm on Saturday

George Ford in action for Bath on Saturday (GETTY IMAGES)

Bath have remained silent on claims that they are being investigated by Premiership Rugby over breaches of the salary cap.

Bath beat old West Country rivals Gloucester 39-16 at Kingsholm on Saturday thanks to a penalty try, two touchdowns by replacement flanker Matt Garvey and six penalties and three conversions from fly-half George Ford.

But Bath’s win was overshadowed by the claims made earlier that they were being probed about paying more than the £5.5m limit on players wages. When Bath head coach Mike Ford was twice asked if he knew about an investigation and what the club thought about the claims, his reply, which he repeated twice, was: “We agree with the salary cap.”

Gloucester director of rugby David Humphreys declared his club were in support of the salary cap both now and in the future and said: “It goes to the core of the game here. From someone who was involved in the Pro12 [Celtic League], one of the big things talked about here was the competitiveness of it and that any team can beat anyone else.”

Newcastle director of rugby Dean Richards was a disappointed man after his side failed to capitalise on all the opportunities they had created in the 15-7 defeat at Harlequins.

“We broke Quins with ease; we should have scored four or five tries as they created next to nothing,” Richards said. “We shot ourselves in the foot as we needed to be more patient. We wanted the win today, not just a bonus point – and we didn’t even get that.”

Mark McCall has insisted Saracens have the spring back in their step after they scored 11 tries to ruthlessly despatch London Welsh 78-7 to pick up their first Aviva Premiership win in more than two months. “It’s a job well done,” McCall said. “It was a clinical performance.”