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Wasps dumping four England internationals sends warning to RFU

Haskell, Eastmond and Nowell during the England training session (Getty Images)

Yesterday Wasps announced the departure of four more players.

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While the departure of a quartet of players is hardly remarkable in and of itself, the names being let go have raised eyebrows.

Both Paul Doran Jones and Kyle Eastmond are England internationals, and what’s more, their departure along with Danny Cipriani and James Haskell brings to four the total of non-retiring England internationals being released by the club in just one season.

Wasps headcoach Dai Young said: “Professional rugby is a tough world within which players and coaches do move clubs, but it still can be a sad time when faces change.”

Tough indeed.

Continue reading below…

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What’s more concerning is at least three of those players are deemed surplus to requirements largely as a result of big-name Southern Hemisphere signings, either already at the club or pending over the summer.

Brad Shields is a direct replacement for Haskell, while the bank-breaking signing of Lima Sopoaga has also effectively ended the reign of club stalwart Cipriani.

The 30-year-old is currently waiting on whether on not Eddie Jones picks him for England before deciding his future. According to Andy Goode writing for RugbyPass: “I spoke to Danny the other day and he’s basically waiting to see if Eddie Jones picks him before he makes up his mind and finalises where he’s going to be next season, so the ramifications of whether he’s selected or not are enormous.”

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Wasps centre Kyle Eastmond

An argument can be made that Haskell and Eastmond are as much a victim of ageing and injury struggles respectively, as an influx of playing talent.

The gifted Eastmond has played just 23 times for Wasps over two seasons, scoring four tries. Injury has played a role in limiting his appearances for the Coventry based club, but so too has the presence of Wallaby Kurtley Beale (last season), Springbok Juan de Jongh, Fijian Gabiriele Lovobalavu and New Zealander Jimmy Goperth.

He may now return to League.

One can hardly imagine the RFU are jumping for joy at the news. The landmark deal they penned in 2016 is worth roughly £2 million per Premiership club per year and one would imagine they’d like for all four players to find a home in the England elite competition where they can continue remain available for selection.

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It’s not difficult to draw a line between the decline of the French national team and the influx of non-French qualified players, who Top14 and ProD2 clubs have poached from the relatively low paying Super Rugby and second-tier competitions across the Southern Hemisphere; all at the expense of developing their own talent.

Of Racing 92s starting fifteen against Agen on the weekend, just six were French qualified; and that’s a ratio that is played out across the league. In stark contrast, 13 of the Leinster starting fifteen that took apart the Scarlets team in the Champions Cup semi-final in the Aviva are Irish qualified, with a remarkable ten of those coming through the Leinster academy system.

The fate of France is one the RFU will be desperate to avoid, yet they can do little but look on as Premiership sides favour buying in talent over developing players and academy systems. Exeter Chiefs may one of the few sides to buck the trend (Read Exeter’s not so secret weapon in bid for domination moves into next phase), but as Premiership revenues increase while Super Rugby’s wane, clubs desperate for immediate fixes will continue to raid their Southern neighbours for talent.

Whatever way you spin it, it’s not good news for England Rugby.

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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