by England. Discuss. They start the new year with bronze medals around their necks. No one else from the Six Nations has managed to get anything tangible out of the Rugby World Cup. As an achievement, it doesn’t come under too much scrutiny, given the controversial draw they enjoyed, but those games were still needed to win. And England were beaten by just one point by the eventual champions in a game no one could have complained about if they had won.
In his first media session of the year, Steve Borthwick announced their achievement and the future foundation it showed. The head coach also announced, quite rightly, the performances of English clubs in the first two rounds of Europe before Christmas. The next few weeks will provide more food for thought.
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So far, so rosy, but it’s not necessary to scratch too much of the surface to reveal persistent deficiencies in the system. The annual scouting of candidates for the squad presents the usual pros and cons, with a prop this time presenting a particular headache. All three have been dropped from the World Cup squad for the start of the Six Nations, and Bevan Rodd has not been ruled out.
But it’s those missing for reasons other than injury that suggest deeper rifts. Four of England’s World Cup squad are ineligible for the championship because they are with French clubs. And then there is the captain, Owen Farrell, who does not want to play.
These issues affect international rugby, full stop. The French captain will not be playing either. Antoine Dupont chose to cast his lot with the French sevens team, as they prepare for the Olympic Games in Paris. Farrell’s reasons for stopping – and we don’t know if he will ever return to the England team or even stay at Saracens – are more opaque, but we care less to say the right thing, he could file them with confidence reasonable under the category of “more trouble than it’s worth”.
It is likely that there will be a lot of interesting things in the upcoming talks about the England team. The latest eight-year agreement between the unions, clubs and players expires this summer and negotiations are continuing fiercely between all parties. Under current terms, England players are paid £23,000 per game; Under the proposed improved squad arrangement, a pre-selected group of 25 players will be paid £150,000 each. That represents some security for the select few, but for those who have experienced a full season of England games it looks like a pay cut.
Lewis Ludlam is said to have signed a contract with Toulon, which would mean the fifth member of England’s World Cup squad – and the England team – will leave with him. “The rules are very clear that it’s English players,” Borthwick said of the eligibility criteria.
“We have to create a system where the players want to stay in England. And they want to play for England because the experience they have of playing for England is exciting and enjoyable. I am hopeful that those overseas will come back. They know I want them back. Joe Marchant knows from me that he will come back.”
Borthwick also revealed that he had been to Paris to try and talk to Henry Arundell about returning to England – and had been turned down. Arundell seems keen to play at the next World Cup. To that end, he has told Borthwick that he will be back the previous season. We’ll see.
English rugby is not used here. There are many other unions and it is interesting to watch over the years how each has tried, and largely failed, to resist the pull of the best players to more lucrative domestic markets. England have retained the “exceptional circumstances” clause relating to the eligibility of those who play overseas, but it looks like they will soon have to start improving that to avoid controversial qualifications such as Australia’s infamous “Giteau law” or ” take into account Britain’s infamous Giteau’s law. Gatland’s law”.
Now that mighty England is taking a beating from more commercially powerful actors across the Channel (and the Japanese market isn’t going to get any weaker either), the international game as a whole may have to consider their position in the rugby landscape. With the possible exception of cricket (and even that is changing), rugby union is the only sport commercially driven by its international game. After nearly three decades of the professional era, it could be starting to change.
The home game dominates most sports, that staple of week-in, week-out action. Any international element is a casual delicacy.
How this will play out is hard to predict at the moment, with English clubs going out of business and the French flexing their muscles more and more sharply. We can be sure that the finances of the multiple associations are also under pressure.
Borthwick’s words about making England an attractive place for his best players to return to sound noble and hopeful. But the numbers all come to us in the end. It’s really interesting to watch England’s struggle even, for all those bronze medals, for those who are involved in the old ways.
