Aviva Premiership
Booth bemoans disparity of riches
Scrum.com
August 26, 2010
London Irish head coach Toby Booth talks to attack coach Mike Catt, London Irish training session, Sunbury, England, May 12, 2009
London Irish boss (right) feels it is not getting any easier for English sides to compete in Europe © Getty Images
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Players/Officials: Toby Booth
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London Irish boss Toby Booth insists that England's elite are capable of competing with Europe's finest but has reiterated that the two are no longer competing on a level playing field.

Booth claimed earlier this week that the Exiles would be focusing on the Aviva Premiership this year as he simply did not have the squad to compete on two fronts.

He is adamant that England's top clubs are a match for any side in Europe on their day but that they are severely handicapped by the fact that they cannot afford to assemble squads of the size and quality of their French rivals.

"I believe that English clubs can compete on any front," Booth said at the launch of the new Aviva Premiership season at Twickenham on Thursday.

"The situation is pretty simple: it's not a level playing field. But, I agree wholeheartedly with the wage cap as a principle, what it does for the business and what it does for a level playing field. But that is the Premiership goldfish bowl.

"Europe is not like that. We have good enough teams, players, coaches, to compete right across the board but, it's just a distorted playing field. If you take one game at a time, things will take care of themselves, whether it be Europe, league etc. But it's not getting any easier, that's for certain."

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