Posts Tagged ‘Internationals’

James Haskell Will Stay To Avoid England Axe After Warning From Martin Johnson ? Autumn Internationals 2010

James Haskell is ready to risk his future at Stade Francais by staying with England this weekend after being warned by Martin Johnson that he will be thrown out of the squad if he returns to his club.

The 24-year-old has been plunged into the middle of a club-versus-country row after his employers asked him to return to Paris for a Top 14 showdown with Toulouse tomorrow. The RFU turned down the request, suggesting they had an agreement with Stade clearing Haskell to remain with the squad during the RBS Six Nations.

The governing body’s director of elite rugby, Rob Andrew, conceded yesterday that no such agreement exists, but insisted England had received assurances from the player’s advisers that his contract covered all training sessions and rest periods between Tests. However, his contract does not contain such detail.

Stade owner Max Guazzini is incensed by the rigid stance of England and the RFU, given that his club have an injury crisis and have released their player whenever they have been asked to do so. They have issued a written warning to Haskell for missing training, brought in independent legal advisers to verify his absence and have made threats about re-negotiating his contract.

Haskell spoke to Stade yesterday and is aware of the scale of their anger. But the RFU are determined to avoid this becoming a test case which opens the way for French clubs to either withdraw players or demand compensation for allowing them to fulfil England duties.

Haskell has been told that if he goes back to play for Stade, he will be banished from the squad and may struggle to fight his way back. As one source put it: ‘They’re going to hang him out to dry and if it means he’s the sacrificial lamb, then so be it.’

Andrew made it clear the onus was on the player to find a solution to this complex situation, saying: ‘The position is between the player and the club. We have spoken to Stade. There is no issue here between the RFU and Stade Francais.

‘The French clubs have been fantastic. We’ve had a really good working relationship with all of them. This is the first and only incident that we have had to deal with in this first season of having players over in France. It is effectively a decision between the player and the club. It is between the player and his advisers as to what he thinks he has in his agreement with the club when he is on England duty, specifically given he is in the England 22, which is the whole basis of the agreement we set up with the Premiership.’

Yet Haskell may not be much use to Stade this weekend because he has been laid low by a stomach bug.

England boss Johnson insisted it was not a ruse designed to keep Haskell out of his club’s clutches, saying: ‘I’ve spoken to the doctor and he said, “You can’t fake those symptoms”. Joe Worsley took his place in training.’

England V South Africa Hospitality

Autumn Internationals Hospitality

Rob Andrew Says James Haskell Affair Means England Selection Rethink ? Autumn Internationals 2010

Andrew said: “When we made the call last July about whether we should involve players based in France, having had meetings with the relevant French clubs, we knew that at some point this may happen. The policy is open to review at any stage after the end of this campaign. We have to look at who is in France, what their circumstances are and make another call on what happens next season.

“We need to be absolutely clear these are the circumstances under which players who are based in France will be considered for England. This is the one ripple we have had and we have enjoyed excellent relationships with the French clubs. We want to make sure that going into next season, which is World Cup year, that we have all this covered. We cannot have a situation where we have fights and compromises: we had plenty of those with the English clubs and do not want them again.”

Stade wanted Haskell to play against Toulouse , arguing England had to release him because a rest weekend in the Six Nations meant the International Rugby Board regulation on player release did not apply and that the 24-year old would be in breach of contract if he failed to return. The RFU refused after the player’s lawyer said Haskell had an agreement with his club that allowed him to be released for Test duty in line with the elite player deal to which Premiership clubs have signed up. Ironically, Haskell was in bed yesterday after contracting a virus.

England play New Zealand in December, a match that will not be covered by the IRB regulation governing player release. Any player based in France who does not have an agreement with his club will not be released. England also have pre-World Cup training camps for which French clubs will not be bound to release players.

“When players went to France last year, we told them all they would only be considered for the national side if they gave us assurances that they could be released for England when Martin Johnson [the team manager] wanted them,” said Andrew. “We did not want players who could not fulfil the same criteria as those based in England. Some of got that in their contracts directly, others negotiated separately with their clubs after they signed their original contracts. A misconception this week is that the RFU has an agreement with clubs in France. We do not.

“We have been given assurances by James and his advisers that he has an agreement with Stade that allows him to fulfil the release periods for England training as per the EPS agreement. The position this week has been between the player and the club. We have spoken convivially to Stade about the RFU’s position and there is no issue between us.”

Andrew said he had not seen the agreement between Stade and Haskell: “It is confidential between player and his club. If the club does not give authority for that piece of paper to be shown to us we can only go on an undertaking from a lawyer, which we have in James’s case, that they have the release rights.”

Johnson said: “We are not prepared to compromise the management of players, which is based on what we think they need. We told Stade on Sunday of our intention to keep all the players who started against Ireland to keep them fresh for Scotland and the following day they said they wanted James back. I do not think he will be affected by all this.”

Johnson said he did not expect the full-back Delon Armitage and the lock Simon Shaw, who suffered rib and shoulder injuries against Ireland, to face Scotland. Ben Foden and Louis Deacon have stayed with the squad. Joe Worsley was called up for training when Haskell fell ill.

England V Samoa Hospitality

Autumn Internationals Hospitality