Steffon Armitage has been one of the standout players in Europe for a number of years now, but due to England’s policy on not selecting players from overseas, he has not been considered for playing in an England shirt. This has caused huge upset against many fans because they know how much of a talent he is and see it as a waste for him not to be playing internationally, especially at the recent World Cup.
Now however, with Eddie Jones taking the reins from Lancaster, Armitage senses that there may be a possibility in a change of the rule because he has told the press that he is interested in being recalled to play for his country and add to his 5 caps that he gained while playing for London Irish. This is not just some attempt to get into the side without a right to be there, Armitage could probably walk into any of the positions in the back row and do a world class job on the international stage against the best of opposition.
But even though Armitage has admitted that “he wouldn’t say no,” he is focusing on his performances for Toulon and insists that this is his main priority. This is backed up by his continued consistent excellence on the field as he scored twice against Leinster in their 24-9 victory in the third round of the European Champions Cup. Steffon Armitage needs to play at this level though because he is competing with other world class talents such as Mamuka Gorgodze, Juan Smith and Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe at flanker and Duane Vermeulan at number 8, with every one of these player possessing 35 plus caps for their country.
