Saracens head coach Joe Shaw remains tight-lipped about the future media availability of director of rugby Brendan Venter, despite the club facing potential fines for his absence. Venter missed the pre-match press conference on Wednesday ahead of their match against Sale, continuing a trend that began with his absence at Prem Rugby's pre-season launch day and during the opening-weekend victory against Leicester.

Recent reports from The Daily Telegraph suggested that Venter had "resigned" as director of rugby to take on a new role as "head of rugby culture and wine consultant." However, this change has not been confirmed by either Saracens or Prem Rugby.

When pressed about Venter's media duties, Shaw stated, "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."

The situation has already cost Saracens £5,000 due to Venter's absence at the Prem's pre-season event, and it is believed that a change in his job title would not exempt him from his contractual obligations.

Saracens had announced Venter's return as director of rugby in January, following the departure of Mark McCall after a 15-year tenure. To date, the club has yet to confirm any alterations to Venter's day-to-day responsibilities.