Ex-Northampton Saints star Reece Marshall on the 'brutal' jobs crisis facing rugby

• A £1.4m cut in rugby union's salary cap means clubs are having to make tough decisions about their playing squads - with around 80 players out of contract nationally this summer. But behind each of the numbers lies a personal story, as Andy Ward reports.

Since the age of 12, Northampton Saints has been a huge part of Reece Marshall's life.

Born in nearby Luton, it was his dream to play for the Saints' first team - a dream he achieved on 60 occasions.

But Marshall is now coming to terms with the fact that his time at Franklin's Gardens is up.

In March, he was pulled into a meeting with incoming director of rugby Phil Dowson, who thanked him for his efforts, but then told him that his services would no longer be required.

It meant for the first time in his career, Marshall, 27, would have to plan for a future without his boyhood club.

"Rugby is a brutal game, it's a business. It's really tough out there at the moment," he told ITV News Anglia.

"I didn't find out I was leaving until about March time when my agent contacted me and said: 'Look, Phil Dowson, the next director of rugby, is going to have a chat with you on the Monday.' We sat down and had a chat, and what basically came from that chat is that we're not going to offer you a new deal, thank you very much, and that was it."

Marshall was offered a deal by another Premiership club, but that was then withdrawn when they decided to spend their limited funds elsewhere.

With no other viable options on the table, and a young family to feed, Marshall made the brave decision to put his professional career on hold - dropping down two divisions to the third tier to play Chinnor, who are based just east of Oxford.

As well as playing part-time next season, Marshall will also be working as an assistant site manager for a housing firm thanks to the help of his new club who fixed up an interview for him.

It's the type of arrangement many professionals are having to make this summer, with the Rugby Players' Association estimating that around 80 players are out of contract - significantly more than previous years.

Many Premiership clubs are being forced to reduce the size of their squads as a result of the salary cap being reduced from £6.4m to £5m in response to the financial pressures caused by the pandemic.

It means clubs are prioritising quality over quantity, squeezing out the middlemen in the process, as they come to terms with having a lot less money to play with.

Speaking to ITV News Anglia, former Saints player Christian Day, who now works for the Rugby Players' Association, confirmed the body is exploring a number of ways to help bring the crisis under control.

"Certainly, we're looking at the potential for putting together a free agents list that can be circulated to clubs," he said.

"It's not quite so easy to do that in this country unfortunately as it would be in America or France where the labour laws are a bit different but certainly it's something we're looking at hard now. We want to help the players."

For Marshall, that kind of help has come too late to continue playing professionally, but he insisted there are no hard feelings.

"If you'd said to me when I was 18 I'd play five games for Northampton Saints, I'd have ripped your hand off," said Marshall.

"To play 50 I'd have ripped your hand off and it's all perspective. I'm gutted I didn't play 100 games but injuries probably didn't help me with that and that's life. But I'm very grateful for what I had."

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