As England prepare to name their squad for the 2015 World Cup, two names will be notable by their absence. Nick Abendanon and Steffon Armitage, the last two recipients of European Player of the Year, will play no part in the tournament.
While their compatriots run out to the cries of ‘Swing Low’ at Twickenham, these two will be going through the motion of pre-season at their clubs in France.
For they have fallen victim to ‘the overseas rule’. England’s current selection policy prohibits picking any overseas based players baring exceptional circumstances. The reasons behind the policy are simple – improve the quality of the Aviva Premiership and give the Rugby Football Union more control and better access to players.
It only takes a brief look at the situation the Welsh Rugby Union has found itself in before the advent of dual contracting to understand the RFU desire to keep the best player in their possession.
And so far, it has worked well. There has been no exodus of players and the England team that is readily available to Stuart Lancaster has progressed well.
The theory is that if you go abroad, you end your international career unless – and we come back to that term – there are exceptional circumstances.
Armitage would surely be an exceptional circumstance.
European Player of the Year in 2014, he would most likely walk into the squad of any country in the world. Former All Black Ali Williams has hailed him as the best openside in the world behind Richie McCaw.
And yet, even when England have been calling out for an openside as many question captain Chris Robshaw’s suitability to the 7 shirt, he has remained exiled. Against France at the Stade de France, England struggled to compete at the breakdown as France were able to secure quick ball time and time again.
To have no specialist openside flankers in his squad could be called shortsighted. To leave a world-class one out? Criminal.
Yet for whatever reason, Lancaster has deemed Armitage to not be an exceptional circumstance.
But that begs the question, what is an exceptional circumstance?
The official line is that Armitage joining the squad would disrupt the balance of the squad and affect morale. While I find that hard to buy, it is ultimately Lancaster’s choice to leave out Armitage, a player they are in dire need of, and, to a lesser extent, Abendanon.
And in a group where he may well face the backrow talents of Michael Hooper, David Pocock, Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric, he may well just rue the decision to put supposed discord ahead of assured quality.
Could there be other reasons to why Lancaster stood firm with the policy? Most definitely.
The last thing he wants to do is send out the message that players can have their cake and eat it too – pick up the big wages of France while playing international rugby. But ultimately, if he had picked Armitage, who would have inferred that message anyway?
One overseas pick in four years of concrete policy is hardly going to open the floodgates. Especially when it is a world-class player plying his trade at the best club in Europe who just so happens to be playing in a position that England need to fill. Surely the definition of exceptional circumstances.
On the whole, the overseas rule has done its job and done it well. It has kept the best English players in the Aviva Premiership and it has given the RFU control.
Earlier I said if you look at the Welsh Rugby Union’s policy – Gatland’s Law – you’d find the exact opposite of England’s policy – rife with player exoduses and club-vs-country availability battles.
But the results haven’t actually been too bad. Wales have had their overseas based stars when needed and have gone through an unprecedented spell of success – a World Cup semi-final in New Zealand and back-to-back Six Nations titles.
Of course, without their homegrown stars, the regions have struggled to draw crowds and compete – although the mass exodus has allowed others to come through.
Wales are now in the process of handing out dual contracts and tightening up Gatland’s law to help the regions compete.
It is obviously too late for the World Cup but perhaps it is time Lancaster loosened his policy to allow England to field the best possible players in the future.
