by The threat of an exodus of players to France and beyond is not new to the Premiership.
In 2009, following confirmation that Wasps trio James Haskell, Tom Palmer and Riki Flutey would move to clubs in France the following season, the Rugby Football Union sent a four-page letter to each member of its squad. elite players, making it clear that any player who moves abroad could jeopardize his place if he does not guarantee satisfactory release periods in his contracts with his new clubs.
There is now something almost strange in the veiled threat. The players had no doubt that if they moved abroad and competed for a place with an English player of the same ability, they would not be selected. He also indicated that then-England manager Martin Johnson and his coaching staff would not travel to watch the French league players.
Two years later, the RFU and Premier Rugby had reached an agreement that prevented England’s head coach from selecting any overseas-based player, except in the case of exceptional circumstances.
The hardening of the stance for more than a decade proved effective, with the appeal of playing for England considerable enough to persuade the overwhelming majority of players that remaining within the English system was in their best interests, both financially and from a rugby perspective. .
However, now the combination of the devastating impact of the Covid pandemic on the finances of Premiership clubs, including a reduction in the salary cap, together with the growing commercial success of the French Top 14 league and the lucrative options in the professional league in Japan, have put pressure on the effectiveness of foreign policy.
There was a time when players from other national teams used to look with envy at the financial rewards available to English players, including match fees of more than £23,000 a game on top of their club contracts.
But over the last year, Steve Borthwick has seen a stream of players, for various reasons, decide that accepting a deal in France is now too good an opportunity to turn down, even if it ends their hopes of landing the red rose.
This week we learn that Northampton Saints captain Lewis Ludlam is the latest to join the exodus, joining Toulon next season despite being a respected and influential member of Borthwick’s World Cup squad .
Ludlam’s former Saints teammate David Ribbans is already at Toulon, while former Harlequins center Joe Marchant has joined Stade Français, Jack Willis is at Toulouse, Jack Nowell at La Rochelle, Sam Simmonds at Montpellier , while his brother Joe is in Pau and Henry. Arundell moved to Racing 92 after the World Cup.
With his move necessitated by London Irish’s financial collapse, Arundell will be able to play for England this season, while Gloucester hooker Jack Singleton renounced that right by joining Toulon this week on loan for the remainder of the season. season.
The introduction of “hybrid or core contacts” as part of the new long-term deal was initially conceived as a way to give Borthwick greater practical control of the conditioning and skill development of his team’s players.
But significantly it now appears to have evolved into the latest incarnation of the 2009 charter, a financial incentive to retain England’s best players in the country.
It is understood that behind the scenes the RFU has already fast-tracked matters regarding players who were identified as being at high risk of moving abroad and were firmly in Borthwick’s plan before finalizing details of the new professional gaming partnership that will start next summer.
Lawes: ‘The RFU has to intervene’
Courtney Lawes, who retired from England at the end of the World Cup campaign, explained why retaining top talent in the Premiership required urgent action.
“I think the RFU have to step in, and the central contract is probably a good idea,” Lawes said.
“You have to pay the best players what they are worth to stay here, otherwise places like Japan or France or wherever, who have the money… The value of the players is what someone is willing to pay for them , so yes [clubs in] France will pay X amount for you and no one in this country will, so it is what it is.
“For gamers, it’s a very finite career, you play for a very short period of time and it can all end at any minute, so you have to make as much money as you can while you play. You can’t just stay out of loyalty or something. You have to make money while being profitable.”
For Lawes, moving closer to the Irish system, where top players are centrally contracted, with playing time closely aligned between club and country, would be a welcome step forward and help curb the threat of exodus.
“I think that as much as you are loyal to your clubs, having to play almost every game for the club and then leaving, when everyone has free time, to go play for your country, is not good for you at all.” he added.
“I think it almost puts you at a disadvantage compared to other nations who only play the games they need for their clubs. They get the playing time their respective international teams want. And then the rest of the time they are well taken care of and almost always in shape, so they are in a very good moment of competition.
“Look, the players want to be here and play for England. But you are asking them to be paid significantly less than they are worth to be able to play in England. It’s not wise to stay and do that, instead of going and earning 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 problems of Premiership directors of rugby, who are currently finding themselves floundering further and further in their bid to retain English talent outside of the international side.
The limitations of the current salary cap, uncertainty over its direction and the lack of details on how exactly the RFU’s new contracts will work have made deciding which players are worth it even more complicated, with the consequence that the more players like Ludlam beech. he is likely to leave.
“It is the most complex part of the job”
“It’s a real headache,” says Phil Dowson, Northampton’s director of rugby, “because it’s a moving target all the time. The salary cap goes up and down. We are not entirely sure what it will be like in two, three or four years. So you don’t have a long-term vision of what that’s going to look like. You don’t have one about what the landscape of England is like. All that uncertainty makes it really complicated. I have found it to be the most complex part of the job.
“What we cannot have is a situation where, in an arms race, clubs go bankrupt. London Irish had a very, very good team. That that club no longer exists is very, very sad. If you increase the salary cap to compete with the French and put pressure on these clubs, it becomes very difficult. We have to try to avoid it at all costs.”
Rugby club directors will attend a meeting with the RFU next month to find out more about the status of the new agreement, which will come into force at the beginning of next season. It can’t come soon enough. Everything seemed much simpler in 2009.
