Prem stars Courtney Lawes and Ellis Genge have indirectly called upon the RFU to relax England player eligibility restrictions for those plying their trade abroad.
Currently, any player who does not play their club rugby in England is not allowed to play for the national side. The reasoning is to protect the Prem, in an effort to keep their best players in the league so that the competition remains highly competitive.
Despite this, many England internationals have chosen to vacate their international positions to chase better lifestyle and financial opportunities elsewhere. Recent returnees include Joe Marchant and Courtney Lawes, but many still play in France who would arguably be first-team England options.
Which cap rule works?
Other countries have adopted looser rules around allowing players to ply their trade elsewhere, including Wales, who have adopted a 25-cap rule, in which a player cannot sign for a team in another country and remain eligible to play for the international side unless they’ve already played 25 international matches – or they were playing abroad before their first cap.
Lawes believes the RFU should explore this option, speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast: “It’s not a terrible idea because you can keep your young players around if they want to be part of the England team and get themselves in there, get the foot in the door, and once they’ve cut their teeth and they earn their stripes a bit, then they’ve got the opportunity to go elsewhere and still play for their country. I think that might not be a terrible compromise.
“If we let everyone go over there, then the product goes down, and it has an effect on the English game. If you’ve got people who’ve got 50, 60 caps who want to go over and experience something else at their own choice, then it opens up the opportunity for new talent to come through a bit quicker and get blooded.”
Genge agreed, saying: “If you’re involved in the English international game and you got 60 caps you’ve obviously proved your worth, right? They know what you’re about; they know you well; they trust you to go over there and play, right? We got a 60-cap rule: go earn your bread or go play in the league and earn your money.
“It then opens up a door for, for example, a younger loosehead to come in and play every single week in the Prem, and push me or whoever it is that goes over there.
“I don’t think it’s fair to say you ain’t allowed to do it. It’s a sick experience.”
Beneficial for both sides?
The increased wages in France, in particular, have attracted numerous England stars in the past, not just recently. In the early 2010s, Nick Abendanon, Jonny Wilkinson and Iain Balshaw, among many others, all spent time in France. Sam Simmonds and Jack Willis moved over more recently, and Jack’s brother Tom joined him just this year, all proving the urge to experience rugby and life outside of England.
Perhaps, instead of stifling these players, the RFU could take advantage of it – that’s what Genge believes anyway.
“If you look at football, for example, like Jude Bellingham going over to the other leagues, how much better he got,” he said. “Harry Kane, the captain of their country, now going over to Bayern in Germany. I feel it brings out the best in players and [gives them] experience in different leagues.
“Like [Jack] Willis, look how much better he’s got being over there. I don’t think you can put people into a box and say ‘no, you must do this because we want this product to be better’. Ultimately, you’re almost restricting different styles of play.”
READ MORE: Jake White’s Fiji reign begins as ex-Springbok coach names three uncapped players for Japan re-match