TIM SWINSON has signed a contract to play for Saracens in the English Championship next season, as they look to bounce back following their enforced relegation out of the Premiership.
The 33-year-old former Scotland and Glasgow Warriors player announced his retirement from rugby last month, but couldn’t resist a change of heart when Saracens phoned up looking for an experienced second-row.
He grew up a few miles from their old Bramley Road ground, played his first game of mini-rugby as a curtain-raiser for Saracens back in the 1990s, and says it is a club he has always wanted to play for.
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The fact that it offers the opportunity to link up with old Newcastle Falcons team-mates Ian Peel and Joe Shaw was another pull factor in his decision to lace up the boots again.
Swinson will initially split his time between his parents’ home in London and his current base in Glasgow, whilst combining rugby with studying for a law degree from Robert Gordon University. He plans to carry on as Chair of Rugby Players Scotland, the association which represents the interests of Scotland’s professional rugby players.
James,
I’ve seen nothing to say that the information is wrong.
I’d love you to be right Kevin but I have read a lot of people saying it isn’t the case although I can’t point you to a definitive document. I guess we shall see.
I blame the SRU penny pinchers for this. No doubt if snouts came out the trough for more than 2 minutes they’d have found a few quid to keep Big Tim around.
As a Glasgow fan, I am glad they didn’t,
While Swinson has been an excellent servant, moving to a side in the Championship, even if it is a side like Saracens, suggests a wind down in his career, the money would be best served looking for a player who will be putting his full focus into his Rugby career. the level Glasgow will be playing at next year is a world removed from where Saracens are going to be.
Saracens can’t get promoted straight back to Premiership, they have to have 2 years worth of salary budget accounts so the latest they can return is August 2023
I don’t think that is correct Kevin. The minimum two year absence was widely publicised initially but I believe it has subsequently been found that was based on outdated information.
A great shame as the longer this disreputable club is kept out of the English Premiership the better in my opinion particularly as all those involved in the cheating are still involved with Saracens.