RFU overseas player rule gets the backing of PREM boss

Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter has urged the RFU not to scrap its ban on picking overseas players, despite a call from former England skipper Courtney Lawes for the restriction to be lifted.

A wealth of talented players remain out of reach for England boss Steve Borthwick because they play in France, most notably Toulouse stars Jack Willis and his brother Tom, and the Toulon duo Kyle Sinckler and Lewis Ludlam.

Bath loose-head Beno Obano is the latest player to rule himself out of selection from next season after agreeing to move across the channel to join Pau, when his deal at the Chiefs West Country runs out in July 2027.

But Baxter says the rules are in place for the good of the game in England, and he sees no reason to change them, as the repercussions are unlikely to be positive for English rugby.

“I just don’t think, for the good of the English game, you can do it,” he insisted.

“It’s not that I don’t understand the arguments. I do. There’s two arguments here, do you just want to make all the best players available to play for England or do you want to build Premiership Rugby as part of how you build the England team?

“If the two go together, then you have to have some kind of rules and regulations around where the English players play.

“I always caveat any argument and say selfishly I’m talking about what’s good for Exeter Chiefs as well – because what’s good for Exeter, and every other Premiership side, is knowing there’s a real reason for your best English players to stay in this country.

“If it just comes down to purely finance, then it’s a tough, competitive situation for us, and when people just throw it out there that players should be allowed to play anywhere they like, I think you’ve got to look down at the deeper repercussions of what may actually happen in the English game overall.

“You can’t pick and choose a model just to decide this is what will be good or bad for a country. For some countries they’re very strict on it, and it works really well for them. We’ve got to decide what we’re comfortable with and stick to it.”