Would-be England internationals
have been warned they must adhere to strict contractual
guidelines if they are not to jeopardise their selection by
moving to France.
The veiled threat –
issued by England manager Martin Johnson and senior members
of the RFU – follows the decision of Wasps trio Riki Flutey,
James Haskell and Tom Palmer to all sign for Top 14 sides
next season.
The prospect of losing
more players across the Channel has focused minds at the RFU
amid a plethora of calls for England to get tough with
players wanting to ply their trade outside the Guinness
Premiership.
But Johnson, in
conjunction with the RFU, has stopped short of saying he
won’t pick players based in France, preferring instead to
reiterate the terms of the multi-million pound deal brokered
between the Elite Players’ Squad (EPS) and Guinness
Premiership clubs.
In effect, he has
stipulated a number of points which must be written into
players’ contracts should they choose to move abroad – or
otherwise they face possible exclusion from the national
squad.
It marks the first
official response to the potential threat of England losing
the core of its squad to wealthy French clubs willing to
double or even triple players’ salaries.
While admitting that
individuals have the right to pursue their careers wherever
they want Johnson said it was imperative that the EPS system
was honoured to attain maximum benefit for the national side
– oh, and also so as not to waste the tens of millions of
pounds the RFU has stumped up to broker the deal.
The pertinent question
is ‘why has it taken so long for the RFU to respond given
that they were kept informed about the players’ decisions
from the beginning of their contract negotiations?’ Stade
Francais coach Ewen McKenzie confirmed as much earlier this
week – in addition to saying that he would make Haskell and
Palmer into even better players – while Brive (where Flutey
will play alongside Andy Goode next season) have also
stressed they will do everything to ensure full co-operation
with the England set-up. Perhaps they (the RFU) felt the
need to be seen to be reacting given the immense amount of
media coverage that has followed the signings of Haskell,
Flutey and Palmer.
“I am pleased that the
RFU has drawn up a clear policy on these matters so that
players know where they stand,” said Johnson. “The benefits
of being in the EPS programme for players are significant
and not being in that structure will, inevitably, affect
individual players’ selection chances.”
Perhaps at this point
it is timely to reflect that France-based Goode was not in
the EPS programme at the beginning of this season, and yet
it was England who went calling on him – rather than the
other way around – when injuries and lack of form left them
scrambling around for a fly-half.
At the time of his
selection – after a notably long absence while he had
previously been playing in England – Johnson didn’t appear
to voice any regrets about the fact Goode was playing in
France, and the player himself credited the move to Brive as
having significantly improved his game.
That appears to negate
Johnson’s comment on Wednesday that “it’s harder to be in
the mix if you’re playing in France, for the simple reason
that you’re not on view in the Premiership”.
So, is it the RFU
pushing these measures through or the Premiership clubs
which now find themselves financially impoverished compared
to their French counterparts? Probably a mixture of the two.
The lure of financial reward and a change of lifestyle is
still likely to draw more England internationals to France –
a fact acknowledged by Rob Andrew, England’s elite director
of rugby. It just seems that contract negotiations may be a
little more prolonged in future.
“We accept that there
will always be some players who wish to develop their
careers overseas and we are now establishing a framework as
to how such moves could be made whilst still being a member
of the EPS programme,” said Andrew.
Given all that, here is
what the RFU expects EPS players to have implemented into
any future contracts with clubs based outside England.
