On Wednesday, Sale director of Rugby Steve Diamond announced that England fly-half Danny Cipriani is considering an offer from French side Toulon. Cipriani’s Sale contract expires at the end of the season and Diamond said Cipriani’s future would be decided in the next two weeks. Moving to France would be a financially lucrative move for Cipriani but would end his England career.
Cipriani has not been a regular in the England squad, only making his return to the side on the summer tour of New Zealand, making his first appearance since 2008, however Cipriani was not selected for the 2014 autumn internationals. Speculation is that Stuart Lancaster could be the one that ultimately makes up Cipriani’s mind for him as the deciding factor could be whether or not he is selected for the England squad for the Six Nations. If selected Cipriani could stay and fight for his place in the starting XV, however if left out he could make the move abroad, a significant possibility as he currently sits behind Owen Farrell, George Ford & Stephen Myler. If Cipriani does move to France it would not be the first time he had turned his back on a possible England future to play overseas. In 2011 Cipriani moved to Australia to play for Melbourne Rebels, eliminating any slim hope he had of playing at the 2011 World Cup.
Cash vs Country
While Cipriani has not been a regular in the England squad his potential move across the channel has once again opened the debate about whether players should play in England and remain eligible for the national team or move to France to earn big wages. Criticism has been targeted at the RFU’s policy of not selecting players who compete in foreign leagues, with the player at the centre of these arguments most often being Toulon Back Row forward Steffon Armitage. Armitage moved to Toulon in 2011 knowing he would be unable to add to his five England caps while playing in France. Since his time in Toulon he has developed into a top class player and was named ERC European Player of the Year in 2013/14. This has led to calls for him to be called up to the England squad despite his overseas status.
This is a tricky situation, on the one hand Armitage’s supporters will argue that if you are good enough it shouldn’t matter where you play and that Wales allow their players to play in France and still be eligible for selection. The supporters of England’s stance will argue that players knew that was the case when they moved abroad and that the French clubs do not have the same agreements with national sides as English teams do with the RFU. This lead to a situation where Toulon threatened not to pay their South African players unless they returned from international duty mid-way through the tournament even threatening to sue the IRB to cover the players’ wages while they were away on international duty.
Both sides of the argument have valid points, however it is not as simple as that. Rugby is not football, players in the Aviva Premiership can earn in a year what some Premier League footballers earn in a week. The average Aviva Premiership yearly salary is approximately £85,000 a year, Anderson a reserve a Manchester United is paid a reported £80,000 a week despite only making eight appearances in the last 18 months. So when a big money offer comes in from France it warrants serious consideration from players, they have their future and families to consider. Rugby will not necessarily set them up for life and not every player will be able to forge a career in coaching or television. Players like Welsh scrum half Mike Phillips have been labelled mercenaries and accused of turning their back on Welsh Rugby, but this is unfair. Phillips and other Welsh players still represent the national team, as per the Welsh RFU’s policy dictates, and they are professionals. The French clubs can offer a package that the Welsh regions cannot offer, most people if offered the choice between two identical jobs one with a significantly better compensation package are likely to accept the higher offer.
England’s players like Cipriani and Armitage have a slightly more complicated choice than their Welsh counterparts, however when deciding what to do they need to think of their whole lives not just the chance at international glory. Should England change their policy on foreign players being selected for England? Yes, if they can come to some arrangement with overseas clubs about the release of players. Having players play in the Top 14, Pro 12 or even Super Rugby, would only improve their play learning new style of rugby and in turn benefit the England team. However at this point in time players moving abroad know what they are getting into, a more lucrative deal but no international call ups. That does not change even if the player develops into one of the country’s best players and hits a rich vein of form, the players knew what the policy was when they signed their contracts with foreign clubs.
This is a complex issue which does not appear to be going away any time soon. While French clubs continue to offer higher Salaries and England choose not to select players who play abroad, players will be forced to choose between contract and country. Saracens chief executive Edward Griffiths has called for the salary cap in England to be scrapped to allow clubs to compete on an even playing field with their French counterparts. This however could be disastrous. Spending could spiral out of control and the competitiveness of the Aviva Premiership could disappear. Currently a minority of players are choosing to move to France ahead of being selected for England, but if that starts to change the RFU may need to reconsider its foreign policy.
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