Saracens boss Venter skips more media duties

Saracens head coach Joe Shaw has refused to say when, or if, director of rugby Brendan Venter will speak to the media again, despite the club facing fines for him not doing so.

Venter was not at Wednesday's pre-match press conference for their forthcoming game with Sale after not attending Prem Rugby's pre-season launch day, or doing any media duties before, during or after the opening-weekend victory at Leicester.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Tuesday that Venter had "resigned" as director of rugby and taken up a new role as "head of rugby culture and wine consultant", but this has not been confirmed by the club nor Prem Rugby.

When asked if Venter would resume media duties, as part of his responsibilities as a director of rugby, Shaw said: "I'm just going to talk about the rugby.

"I'll leave the club to talk about where we stand on all those kind of things."

BBC Sport has contacted Saracens for comment.

It is understood Sarries have already been fined £5,000 after Venter was not present at the Prem's pre-season launch day.

It is also thought a change of job title would not preclude Venter from his contractual responsibilities.

Saracens announced in January that Venter would be returning as director of rugby and have yet to publicly confirm any change to his day-to-day responsibilities.

He succeeded Mark McCall, who stepped down at the end of last season after 15 years in the job.