When I started to write this article before Christmas my answer - to the question 'Is professional rugby going to be credit crunched?' -was going to be ‘Possible, but unlikely’. I was going to describe how watching sport is resilient in a downturn – like alcohol and gambling it is 'a getaway pursuit'.

Recent events, however, have prompted a rethink.

The credit crunch has claimed its first victim of 2009 with the players at FC Auch Gers (in Pro D2) taking a 20% pay cut in order to survive. I will do my best to explain what is now becoming a familiar process.

France has something called a depot de bilan, which can be translated most simply as 'bankruptcy protection'.

Auch had revealed to the auditors that there was a 650,000 euro hole in their accounts during the Christmas break and the players were welcomed back with the news that everything depended on them. If they didn’t take a 20% pay reduction (saving approximately 250,000 euros), the major sponsor (Le Clerc, a big supermarket chain) would not contribute an extra 250,000 euros and the dirigeants (the sponsors and owners) would not contribute the rest.

Oh and by the way – you have 24 hours to decide.

Welcome back boys. Hope you enjoyed your Christmas and didn’t commit to mortgages or car repayments!

The players initially refused but at 5pm Tuesday finally agreed. The alternative was the end of Auch as a professional club and the players receiving nothing but unemployment benefits.

For those who think this is a one off, last season Albi (then in Top 14) asked players to take a 17.5% pay cut. The players agreed but Albi were eventually relegated anyway, despite not finishing in the bottom two places, due to a further breach of the funding rules.

Biarritz, one of the giants of French rugby but having a terrible season, asked their players in November to take 20% pay cuts which would be reimbursed if they finish in the top seven places in the French Championship, or made the quarter finals in Europe.  Not surprisingly, the players refused. 'This is not a money issue' I hear you say, but Biarritz relies on one major sponsor (Cap Gemini) and if they have a change of heart... Oh oh.

Rugby is like most businesses in that they have a reasonable idea of budgets and cash flow for the year. But, unlike other businesses which can operate monthly or quarterly, rugby clubs must submit a full year budget before the season starts and almost all clubs operate as close to the edge as they dare. And remember in June last year everything financial was still rosy.

This can create problems as salary budgets are known at the start of the year but clubs rely on sponsors and gate takings that are variable. Everybody loves a winner, so if you have good results there is usually no problem. If, however, you have a poor season then gate takings are lower and sponsors who usually kick in say 50,000 euros a quarter may only kick in 30,000 - if the choice is between firing someone at work or reducing the amount you give to the local sports team, most bosses would understandably choose the latter.

What will be the end result? No one around here is quite sure; everyone seems to be expecting a tough 18 months and then improvement. Recent events have shown that no one is immune to the financial turmoil but, as with almost every profession, if you are performing well you should be safe.

As one of our players succinctly put it, “If we win. Pas de problem”.

With a vested interest I certainly hope so.