Head coach Gregor Townsend and CEO Mark Dodson to take pay deferrals at SRU

Scottish Rugby have announced senior members within its structure, including head coach Gregor Townsend, will have 25 per cent of their wages deferred until the end of August.

Townsend, along with counterparts Dave Rennie and Richard Cockerill of Glasgow and Edinburgh have agreed to the measure which has been taken to ease the financial burden on the SRU.

At board level, both executive and non-executive members have agreed to the same deferral. While chief executive Mark Dodson will have part of his his £930,000 annual salary deferred after agreeing to a 30 per cent drop.

A statement released by the SRU read: “The Board of Scottish Rugby met on Friday 27 March by conference call to discuss once again the on-going impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on both the sport in Scotland and Scottish Rugby as an organisation.

“The welfare of all our staff, clubs and players were top of the agenda and a full discussion held on the steps put in place to ensure they are all supported at this difficult time.

“It was noted that significant and detailed work is also on-going, at a pace, to review the considerable financial impacts on Scottish Rugby and the game in Scotland at all levels in respect of COVID-19.”

The statement included no measures to be applied to players, though work on the development of Murrayfield to included training pitches has been suspended.

While the SRU reiterated Murrayfield is open to be used however the UK government desire in the fightback against the coronavirus outbreak.