Rugby: Saracens owner backs Ed Coetzee after report questions club’s leadership and direction

Dominic Silvester has defended the chief executive’s record, pointing to senior appointments and commercial agreements in a letter to supporters and partners.

Saracens owner Dominic Silvester has backed chief executive Ed Coetzee following a newspaper report questioning the club’s leadership and highlighting the turnover of senior staff.

Silvester issued an open letter on Tuesday in response to an article by Alex Lowe in The Times, which described “executive-level chaos” at the club.

The report identified Coetzee as Saracens’ third chief executive in two years and raised concerns about the effect of staff departures on relationships with supporters and sponsors.

“The Board has full confidence in Ed and his team,” Silvester wrote.

He highlighted the appointments of Jason Thomas as chief financial officer and Rob Cook as chief operating officer, alongside agreements covering stadium events, hospitality and sponsorship.

Those included bringing the women’s athletics event ATHLOS to StoneX Stadium and securing a new agreement with Tottenham Hotspur for the Harlequins fixture in March 2027.

Ed Coetzee appointed after spells at Brive and Sharks

Saracens announced Coetzee’s appointment on 23 July. He arrived from Brive, having previously held several senior roles at the Sharks in South Africa, including chief executive.

A former prop, Coetzee also played for the Sharks, Bayonne and Biarritz before moving into administration.

At the time of his appointment, Silvester acknowledged that some previous executive appointments had not worked out. He said he had known Coetzee for more than a decade and praised his work in Durban.

Coetzee himself addressed the challenge of changing perceptions of Saracens in Lowe’s original article.

“One success for me would be to break this negative perception,” he told The Times.

On the field, Saracens were beaten 45-36 by Connacht in their Champions Cup opener on Saturday, scoring six tries but leaving Galway without a competition point.