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'I don't think England have enough quality to ignore the overseas rule'
Lawrence Dallaglio has called for England to address their current overseas rule, claiming the “financial landscape” of rugby has changed.
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England are currently not allowed to select players that are not competing in the Gallagher Premiership- a rule that has been in place since the 2011 World Cup.
That has proven to be problematic at times over the past decade, with players such as Steffon Armitage and Nick Abendanon thriving while in the Top 14. However, the rule has never been under such scrutiny, with an increasing number of England players making the move abroad, not helped by the demise of Worcester Warriors, Wasps and London Irish last season.
Four members of England’s World Cup squad are now based in France, with a further handful linked with moves away from the Gallagher Premiership. Former captain Owen Farrell is, of course, the biggest name that has been linked with a move to France, but the league already possesses some of England’s brightest talents.
One of those is Toulouse’s Jack Willis, who highlighted what an operator he is against Bath on Sunday in the Investec Champions Cup. This led to Dallaglio’s calls for England to change their current policy on TNT Sports after the match, where he said it was an idea that head coach Steve Borthwick supports.
“When you speak to the people at Toulouse, they can’t quite understand why he doesn’t get picked for England more, because they’ve see a real gem in there,” the former England captain said.
“He’s signed for one more year, so he has this season and then up to the end of 2024/25 season.
“I don’t think England have enough quality at the moment to ignore the overseas rule as it is. They’ve got to change it. I know Steve Borthwick wants to change it- he won’t say it publicly but you have to.
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“We understand why that law was brought in, as why Australia had the Giteau Law, and [Warren] Gatland has Gatland’s Law. The financial landscape of rugby has changed for the foreseeable future in England. I don’t think suddenly there’s going to be a flood of players going over the France or Japan.
“You have to look at that law. With Tom Curry being injured, I don’t think we have anyone with Jack Willis’ skill set in the England squad. I’ve looked at the whole back row, and I know we don’t. So England are missing out on having one of the best flankers, playing for one of the best European teams, why can he not play for England?”
Comments on RugbyPass
Let’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
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