Saracens face fines over Brendan Venter media absences

Saracens face further fines over Brendan Venter's failure to meet media obligations, BBC Sport reported on Tuesday. The broadcaster understands the club have already received a £5,000 sanction because their director of rugby missed Prem Rugby's pre-season launch. It also reported that Venter did not speak to media around Sunday's victory at Leicester.

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The BBC said he was absent from interviews before, during and after that opening league fixture. Separate claims about a change to his job title remain unconfirmed by Saracens and Prem Rugby. The report indicated that a different title would not necessarily remove his contractual media responsibilities.

The off-field issue follows a successful start to Venter's second spell in charge. Saracens won 40-38 at Welford Road on 27 September, recovering after Nick Isiekwe received a 20-minute red card for a high tackle on Freddie Steward. According to the BBC's match report, Rotimi Segun scored twice while the visitors were reduced to 14 players.

Segun's first try followed a cross-field kick from Elliot Daly and put Saracens back in front. Leicester regained the advantage through replacement James Thompson, but Segun crossed again with seven minutes remaining. Gabriel Hamer-Webb's three tries could not secure a home win in a contest that produced 12 tries across the two sides. Fergus Burke added five conversions to Saracens' six tries.

Saracens head coach Joe Shaw praised his players' calm response to the setbacks in comments carried by the BBC. Daly played in four positions, while summer signing Tomos Williams was named man of the match. The victory came after two seasons in which Saracens had failed to reach the play-offs, giving the returning Venter an immediate league win.

Saracens announced Venter's return in January, with Mark McCall leaving the director of rugby role at the end of last season after 15 years. The club have not announced any subsequent change to Venter's daily duties. The BBC report did not specify the total value of the additional fines expected.