Adapting selection policy would be a gross error – and harm England team
It would send all wrong signals to accommodate a club so spectacularly in breach of the regulations
One of the dictionary definitions of exceptional is something that is “needing special attention or presenting a special problem”. It is a definition that could not be more relevant to the quandary facing Saracens over the future of their England internationals, and, in turn, facing the Rugby Football Union.
The question, however, is whether the unprecedented relegation of the English and European champions to the Championship next season is exceptional enough for the RFU to relax its policy of selecting only players who are based in England.
It is a policy that was demanded by the clubs themselves to prevent an exodus of the best English talent from the Premiership to lucrative clubs in France and further afield, such as Japan.
It is a policy that has largely proved effective, even if the RFU has stretched it a bit to suit its own requirements, such as picking Ben Te’o before he had played for Worcester, and likewise Piers Francis and Brad Shields, who were both in Super Rugby when selected for the national side before moving to England.
The clubs, however, also conceded to an “exceptional circumstances” clause within the policy, which was originally deemed to allow for players based outside England to be selected in the case of an injury crisis.
In the aftermath of Premiership Rugby’s seismic decision on Saturday to relegate Saracens to English rugby’s second tier next season, the RFU is now facing the question: Would it be of benefit to the England team to give permission for Saracens’ cast of internationals to play in the Pro14 or Top 14 leagues next season, rather than potentially tread water in the Championship?
Eddie Jones, the England head coach, did not offer much clarity yesterday on his view on whether it was tolerable for a senior international to spend a season out of the domestic top flight – and Saracens will also not return to the Champions Cup until at least 2022 because of their demotion. Nor whether he felt the RFU should relax its rule to pick players based outside England. His immediate concern was picking and preparing a squad for the opening Six Nations match against France in Paris on Feb 2.
Which is as it should be. None of this mess is of Jones’s making. Nor the RFU’S. The problem is that Saracens’ England internationals – and aspiring internationals – require clarity now, given they face individual talks with the club to determine where they will play rugby next season.
The RFU is understood to be reviewing its options in the best interests of the players and English rugby. Its contemplations should be swift. There should be no
Sarries contingent should see season in Championship as unique chance to prolong Test career
relaxing of its selection policy. The temptation to allow Jones to select a player based in France on loan should be resisted, even if it would allow a solution to Saracens’ need to offload players to get under the £7million salary cap, or to allow their international stars to be involved in top-flight club rugby for a season before returning to the Premiership.
This would send out all the wrong signals to the game. Saracens, now by their own admission, have been breaking the salary cap and punished twice for cheating the system put in place to secure the long-term financial viability of the league and underpin its competitiveness. It would be a gross error for the RFU to relax its own regulations in order to accommodate a club so spectacularly in breach of Premiership Rugby’s regulations.
Soundings yesterday suggest there is little appetite among the clubs to countenance any change, and it would require a majority backing for the RFU to change its policy.
But perhaps more importantly, it would also not be in the interests of the England team. The leading internationals already face a gruelling season as it is. Twelve months in the most attritional club league in the world, the Top 14, would be the worst possible option for any Saracens player.
It is a league where the standout feature is the lack of structure, which is why it suits Scotland fly-half Finn Russell, who is at Racing 92, but would be to the immense frustration of England captain Owen Farrell, as it was to Ireland fly-half Johnny Sexton, who spent two seasons at the Parisian club.
No, the England contingent at Saracens would do well to see next season in the Championship as a unique opportunity to prolong their international careers. They are coming off the back off a World Cup season and are heading into a 12-month campaign culminating in a British and Irish Lions tour in South Africa.
The likes of Farrell, Maro Itoje, Billy and Mako Vunipola, Jamie George and Elliot Daly could use next season as an opportunity to work on their conditioning and rehabilitate niggling injury problems and arrive fresh to England camps for a Test schedule that includes four games next autumn.
If Saracens can arrange friendly matches against Super Rugby opposition, and perhaps if Jones can arrange some separate training sessions for his England players, then the next campaign could extend their playing careers by several seasons and ensure they are in great shape for the Lions tour of South Africa in 2021.
That may not be an outcome that Saracens deserve, but it is every reason for the RFU to hold firm on its selection policy – even if everything about this week is exceptional.