England stalwarts call on RFU to change selection policy
SPOTLIGHT: Two experienced England players called on the Rugby Football Union to make a change in their selection policy.
Courtney Lawes and Ellis Genge have called on England to end their ban on selecting overseas-based players for Test rugby.
RFU regulations prevent players at clubs abroad being considered for international selection, a move designed to maintain the quality of the English Prem and give England coach Steve Borthwick greater control over his squad.
But with relegation no longer a feature of the Prem, critics of the RFU’s position argue it harms England as the national side are denied access to top players at clubs in leading rugby nations such as France, such as Toulouse’s Jack Willis, who has been voted best player in the Top 14 two years running.
Now former Test captains Lawes and Genge have become the first senior England internationals to break ranks by urging the RFU to move to a position adopted by several other countries, where players who have won a certain number of caps can still be available for Test duty.
Loose forward Lawes, now 37 and a veteran of 105 England caps, recently returned from a two-year spell in French club rugby with second division side Brive and is now pushing for a place in the England squad for next month’s Nations Championship matches.
“I know in Wales they do the 25-cap thing,” Lawes told The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast, in a reference to how Wales can select anyone beyond their borders if they have made 25 or more international appearances.
“It’s not a terrible idea because then you can keep your young players if they want to be part of the England team and once they’ve cut their teeth and earned their stripes, you’ve got the opportunity to go elsewhere and still play for your country.
“I think that might not be a terrible compromise.”
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Genge revealed he had spoken to RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney about a rule whose purpose he struggles to understand.
The British and Irish Lions prop, who has won 83 England caps, has played all of his club rugby in England at Leicester and Bristol.
But Genge believes the experience of leading England footballers Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane, now with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively, demonstrates the benefits of playing abroad.
“I don’t think it’s fair to say ‘you aren’t allowed to do it’,” said Genge. “It’s a sick [good] experience, and the stuff that comes with it is incredible as well.
“If you look at football, Jude Bellingham going over to the other leagues – look how much better he got – and Harry Kane, the captain of the country now playing in Germany — experience of different leagues brings out the best in players.”
He added: “I sort of agree with what Courts [Lawes] has said. If you had a cap rule where you do, say, 50 or 60 caps, so if you’re involved in the English international game and you have 60 caps and then you go to France.”
Jack and Tom Willis, Dave Ribbans, Kyle Sinckler, Manu Tuilagi, Jonny Hill, Zach Mercer and Billy Vunipola are among the England players currently barred from England duty ahead of next year’s World Cup in Australia as a result of playing for clubs in France’s Top 14.
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