If you stood on an English beach in the south east and looked over the Channel, towards France, you may be able to see the faint outline of Jack Willis or Henry Arundell charging around a sports stadium. Because a huge number of England’s top rugby talent have migrated overseas and into the Top14, beyond the reach of England head coach Steve Borthwick.
There are 15 top-flight Englishman plying their trade in the Top14 with another group, including the likes of England internationals Kyle Sinckler and Lewis Ludlam set to join them.
With a squeeze on English finances it is no wonder that players are looking to steady their bank account and make the most of what is a relatively short career overseas, but can England afford not to pick these star players?
Borthwick must look overseas
The current state of play in England sees the head coach Borthwick unable to pick any overseas player, except in exceptional circumstances.
Henry Arundell, who is on fire for Racing 92 in Paris at the moment, has such dispensation because he was forced to move after his club London Irish went bust.
The same umbrella protection applies to the likes of Ali Crossdale, formerly of Wasps, at Perpignan and did apply to Jack Willis, also once of the east Midlands but now at Toulouse, but Willis has since signed a new deal ruling him ineligible.
Few would argue that English football has not benefited from the likes of Jude Bellingham’s European ventures and Harry Kane’s spell at Bayern Munich and few would argue that overseas cricket opportunities have made England’s star players worse. So why does rugby continue to drag its feet and remain an outlier.
Because it’s scared of being unable to plug the gaps.
When players head overseas vast holes are left in the core of squads at home. Cricket and football have been able to get around this with quality foreign import strategies and developed academy products. Rugby, though, seems intent on forcing their stars to refuse opportunities to play for their country.
England impressed at the Rugby World Cup this autumn, but only because no one expected them to be remotely competitive.
Squad depth
The two finalists, winners South Africa and losers New Zealand, both took squads to the showpiece event in France made up of players who operate both domestically and overseas. The Springboks, for example, have a number of stars in Japan. England, though, in normal circumstances would have none.
So when English players are thriving in France, looking after their wallets and performing on the pitch, maybe it is about time we finally picked them.
Because it is English rugby mismanagement that has squeezed the cap and it is English club ignorance that suggests squads can stay the same when budgets are slashed.
Rugby is learning to embrace fantasy gaming and data – pretty forward thinking for the sport – and it is about time it learns to accept that sometimes the very best players will get better with overseas experience, whether that be France, Japan or Atlantis.
