sport news SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: Head coach Steve Borthwick should be allowed to pick his ... trends now
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As an international head coach, you cannot be constrained by external factors around selection because they don’t allow you to pick your best team and therefore create a readymade excuse.
That’s what the RFU’s policy, which means you can’t play for a club outside of England and also represent Steve Borthwick’s national side, does. I’ve long been of the view it is an archaic ruling which doesn’t work in the society we all live in today. I look at it through a very blunt lens.
Does the overseas rule make England more competitive? Or, as an Olympic rowing team would say: ‘Does it make the boat go faster?’ For me, the answer is an emphatic no.
I cannot imagine not being able to select a single player I wanted. If someone had told me I couldn’t have picked Jason Robinson because he played in France, I’d have gone mad!
As the man in charge of the country’s men’s team, Borthwick should be able to pick the best side he can without exception.
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But the RFU’s dictat means he can’t do that. Instead, he can only select the best Englishmen who happen to play in England. To me, that devalues the international game and the England shirt immensely.
If you’re George Ford or Marcus Smith, you want to know you’re being picked as England fly-half because you’re the best in your
