One of the more interesting aspects of England's Six Nations opening weekend defeat to Scotland was the lack of impact from the Saracens players.
The England team has been anchored by stars from the multiple Champions Cup winning side, with the likes of Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, and Billy Vinupola proving to be key pieces under Eddie Jones.
However, they struggled against the Scots. That should perhaps come as no surprise, with Saracens relegated to the Championship at the end of last season and yet to play a game in the current campaign. That resulted in some of the players mentioned above looking rather off the pace.
It is highly likely that Saracens will return to the Premiership after this season, but could some of the biggest names opt to move on?
It is not beyond the realms of possibility. The salary cap in the league will be lowered to £1.4million for next season, and with the club having been relegated due to issues with the cap, it could be a struggle to retain all of their players.
They certainly won't be short of offers if they do decide to move on.
The Telegraph are reporting that both Owen Farrell and Maro Itoje are set to be offered big money contracts from Japan.
Japan's Top League has been attracting an increasing number of major names in recent times, with the likes of Dan Carter, Brodie Retallick, Beauden Barrett, Michael Hooper, and Kieran Read moving to the country.
The Top League are hoping to capitalise on the success of the 2019 World Cup by raising the profile of the league both at home and abroad, something that would be aided by recruiting some of Europe's top stars. League hairman Osamu Ota told The Telegraph:
We have George Kruis and we also have Alex Goode at another team. They are current England international players for England which is a great thing for us.
In addition to them, if we can have Maro Itoje and Owen Farrell in the future in our league that would be a great thing for us. We also have Greig Laidlaw. Those European players are very popular in Japan.
It is believed Eddie Jones will also be targeted after the 2023 World Cup, with there being a good chance the Australian would be open to returning to the nation he coached in the 2015 edition of that tournament.
There is no salary cap in Japan, with players able to earn vast sums of money. For example, Dan Carter was reportedly earning just short of €1.2million per year during his stint at Kobelco Steelers.
With the Japanese season running from January to May each year, it would presumably rule Farrell or Itoje out of at least one Six Nations campaign were they to make the move.
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