by The threat of a player heading to France and beyond is nothing new to the Premier League.
In 2009, following confirmation that Wasps trio James Haskell, Tom Palmer and Riki Flutey would be moving to clubs in France the following season, Rugby Football Union sent a four-page letter to all members of its elite squad of players, made it clear that any player moving abroad could put their place in jeopardy if they did not get satisfactory release periods in the contracts with their new clubs.
There is almost something quaint now about the veiled threat. The players had no doubt that they would not be selected if they moved abroad and wanted to find a place with an English player of the same ability. He also revealed that then England manager Martin Johnson and his coaching staff would not be traveling to watch players in the French league.
Two years later the RFU and Premier Rugby had reached an agreement which prevented any overseas-based player from being selected by the England head coach except in exceptional circumstances.
The tougher stance has been effective for more than a decade, with the appeal of playing for England big enough to convince the vast majority of players that it was in their best interests, both financially and from a rugby point of view, to stay indoors of the English system. .
But now, the combination of the devastating impact of the Covid pandemic on Premier League club finances including a reduction in the salary cap together with the commercial success of France’s Top 14 league and lucrative options in the professional league in Japan has been alarming. pressure on the effectiveness of foreign policy.
There was a time when players from other national teams were jealous of the financial rewards available to England players, including match fees of over £23,000 per game on top of their club contracts.
But over the past year Steve Borthwick has seen an influx of players who, for various reasons, have decided that accepting a deal in France is now too good an opportunity to turn down, even if their hopes of winning the red rose are over. .
This week we learned that the latest to join the exodus is Northampton Saints captain Lewis Ludlam, who is set to join Toulon next season despite his respect and influence in Borthwick’s World Cup side.
Ludlam’s former team-mate David Ribbans is already with Toulon, while former Harlequins representative Joe Marchant is with Stade Français, Jack Willis is with Toulouse, Jack Nowell is with La Rochelle, Sam Simmonds is with Montpellier and his brother Joe by Pau and Henry. Arundell moved to Racing 92 after the World Cup.
Arundell will be able to play for England this season due to his move due to the financial collapse of London Irish, but Gloucester hooker Jack Singleton has lost that right this week by signing for Toulon on loan for the rest of the season.
The introduction of ‘hybrid or central contacts’ as part of the new long-form deal was originally conceived as a way to give Borthwick greater control over the conditioning and skill development of the players in his squad.
But it now appears to have evolved into the latest incarnation of the 2009 letter, a financial incentive to keep the country’s best players in England.
It is understood that the RFU has already stepped up matters in relation to players identified as being at high risk of moving abroad and was firmly in Borthwick’s plan ahead of the details of the new professional game partnership which is due to start soon. purpose. summer.
Laws: ‘The RFU must step in’
Courtney Lawes, who retired from England duty at the end of the World Cup campaign, explained why urgent action was needed to retain the best talent in the Premier League.
“I think the RFU needs to step in, and the core contract thing is probably a good idea,” Lawes said.
“You have to pay what the best players are worth to stay here, or in places like Japan or France or wherever it is, who have the money… The value of the players is whatever something someone is willing to pay for, so if [clubs in] France will pay you X amount and nobody will be in this country, so it will be.
“For players, it’s such a limited career, you’re playing for such a short period of time that it could end at any minute, so you’ve got to make the money you can while playing the game. You can’t stay just by loyalty or anything like that. You have to make your money while being profitable.”
For Lawes, a move closer to the Irish system, where key players are centrally contracted, with game time closely aligned between club and country, would be a welcome step forward, and would help the threat of an exodus prevent
“I think as much as you are loyal to your clubs, you have to play almost every game for the club, and then go – when everyone has free time – to play for your country, it’s not great for you ,” he said.
“I think it almost puts you at a disadvantage compared to the other nations who only play the games their clubs want. They get the game times their respective international teams want. And then the rest of the time they are well kept and almost always fit so they are in competition time as nick come.
“Look, players want to be here and play for England. But you’re asking them, you’re asking them to pay such a significant amount less than what they’re worth to play for England. It’s not wise to wait and do that, rather than go and earn what you’re worth for the short period of time you’re worth it.”
And yet the RFU’s intervention does not address the wider issues facing Premiership rugby directors who are increasingly scrambling to keep England talent on the fringes of international selection.
The constraints of the current salary cap, the uncertainty of his direction of travel and the lack of details on how the RFU’s new contracts will work make it even more difficult to determine which players are worth it – and as a result more players like Ludlam. likely to leave.
‘That’s the hardest part of the job’
“It’s a real headache,” says Phil Dowson, Northampton’s director of rugby, “because it’s an exciting goal all the time. The salary cap is going up and down. We are not entirely sure what it will be in two, three, four years. So you don’t have a long-term view that way. You have no idea what the English landscape looks like. All that uncertainty makes it extremely difficult. It’s the trickiest part of the job.
“What we cannot have is a situation where clubs are resorting to an arms race. Gaeil London had a very good squad. It is very sad that club is not around. If you drive the salary cap up to compete with the French, and if you put pressure on these clubs, it becomes very difficult. We must try to avoid that at all costs.”
The clubs’ directors of rugby will attend a meeting with the RFU next month to learn more about the status of the new agreement, which will come into force at the start of next season. It can’t come soon enough. It all seemed so much simpler in 2009.
