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Expat Six Nations players bear the brunt as clubs called the shots this weekend

By Liam Heagney
Greig Laidlaw and Dan Coles were on duty this weekend

The early exit of Wales’ Dan Biggar from Northampton’s English Premiership match on Saturday provided a sharp reminder that players contracted to teams outside the Test country they represent remain at the mercy of employers demanding huge value-for-money from their over-the-border signings.

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A hefty 135 of the 168 players that have played in the Six Nations opening two rounds had the luxury of putting their feet up and enjoying a rare weekend off without a match. 

Not being involved wasn’t a bonus for everyone. The likes of Devin Toner, Mako Vunipola, Julien Marchand and Huw Jones had no choice but to retire to the sofa after injury prematurely ended their championship.

However, sifting through the weekend’s 33-strong list of those who have had to play club rugby, the clear message is that if you work abroad you better be prepared to tog out and earn your wage. There usually is no let-up judging by the demands made of 14 outsiders. 

Six of Scotland’s seven players based in other countries have had to front up. So, too, have five of Wales’ six non-Welsh based players along with the three Italy players earning a wage in France and England respectively. 

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It’s a situation that left Test team coaches Gregor Townsend, Warren Gatland and Conor O’Shea fretting in case their mobile phone suddenly pinged, delivering a message containing the dreaded news that a player they have no control of outside the Test window governed by World Rugby’s regulation nine had picked up a knock threatening their round three Six Nations participation next weekend. 

Other championship countries weren’t immune from the threat of receiving bad weekend news. Chris Farrell was one of just four of the 27 Ireland players Joe Schmidt had capped this month who was released for weekend PRO14 duty with a province. The risk backfired.

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Farrell, who started at Murrayfield six days earlier due to an injury crisis, tweaked a knee and limped out of Munster’s facile win over Southern Kings in Cork with less than a quarter of the match played. 

Its seriousness hasn’t been officially confirmed, but another midfield concern was the last thing Schmidt wanted after Garry Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw both missed the win over Scotland through injury, allowing Farrell his selection look-in. 

But whatever about that gamble not paying off, the IRFU at least had a full say in the first place whether Farrell would or would not play for Munster. That was something the SRU, the WRU and the FIR didn’t have regarding their Test players with club contracts beyond their borders. 

What was particularly noticeable in some instances this weekend was how different attitudes prevailed within a club. 

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Take Leicester. Dan Cole, a 56th minute sub in the win over France, was the only one of Tigers’ half-dozen England players who faced Saracens away on Saturday. 

However, no leeway was afforded to winger Jonah Holmes, who played the full 80 in Wales’ win in Italy last weekend, and Jake Kerr, who had been away with Scotland and played 18 minutes off the bench in their victory over Italy. 

This double standard was also visible elsewhere in the Premiership. Only one of Wasps’ four England players – sub scrum-half Dan Robson – was involved in their Friday night win at Bristol.

But Thomas Young, fresh from an 80-minute debut for Wales in Rome, and Michele Campagnaro, who featured for the Azzurri in that same Test fixture, were both asked to go the distance at Ashton Gate six days later.  

There were further examples of different strokes. Exeter rested their England six in the Friday loss at Gloucester but Wales prop Tomas Francis, who started the win over France, played 58 minutes of the tight Kingsholm tussle.   

Newcastle duo Gary Graham and Chris Harris, along with Sale’s Josh Strauss, were the other Scotland’s trio involved in this weekend’s Premiership action, Sean Maitland at Saracens their only English-based exile who could put his feet up.

Liam Williams, also on the Saracens books, was the only one of Wales’ six England-based players to have a break.

There were double standards evident as well across this Channel. Whereas Clermont excluded their six France players from their Saturday game at home to Bordeaux, Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw fielded as starting scrum-half.  

The same situation will occur in Paris on Sunday, Racing 92 resting France’s Wenceslas Lauret but asking Scottish out-half Finn Russell to start versus Toulouse. That appearance will give national boss Townsend a few uneasy hours waiting to hear his star play-maker has got through the match safely six days before the Scots take on France.

Even Italy were left on tenterhooks by the French, skipper Sergio Parisse chosen on the Stade Francais bench at home to Lyon on Saturday night while Italian hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini must pack down for Toulouse at Racing on Sunday.

Their inclusion was confirmation that it really is one rule for native players at a club in England and France, but a different criteria exists for those coming from elsewhere who play for rival Six Nations countries.

THE CLUB/COUNTRY BREAKDOWN 

Wales 31 players used in Six Nations – five played for English clubs this weekend (Jonah Holmes, Thomas Young, Dan Biggar, Tomas Francis, Josh Adams);

France 29 players used – one playing this weekend (Pierre Bourgarit as a La Rochelle sub);

Scotland 29 players used – 12 playing this weekend: six for Scottish clubs (Rob Harley, Ali Price, Adam Hastings, Peter Horne, Jamie Bhattie, Ben Toolis), four for English clubs (Jake Kerr, Gary Graham, Chris Harris, Josh Strauss), and two for French clubs (Greig Laidlaw, Finn Russell);

Ireland 27 players used – 4 played this weekend, one at each Irish province (Chris Farrell, Andrew Porter, John Cooney, Ultan Dillane);  

England 26 players used – 2 played this weekend for English clubs (Dan Cole, Dan Robson);

Italy 26 players used – 9 played this weekend: 6 for Italian clubs (Edoardo Gori, Ian McKinley, Nicola Quaglio, Federico Ruzza, Tiziano Pasquali, Jimmy Tuivaiiti), two in France (Sergio Parisse, Leonardo Ghiraldini), and one in England (Michele Campagnaro).  

Eleven of the 31 clubs with Six Nations representation in recent weeks – the Welsh quartet of Scarlets, Ospreys, Dragons and Cardiff, Premiership duo Saracens and Harlequins, along with Top 14 quartet Montpellier, Bordeaux, Toulon and Lyon, as well as ProD2 Brive – opted not to use any of their Test championship players this weekend. 

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J
Jon 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 12 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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