I don’t agree with everything Rassie Erasmus says or does. In fact, far from it.
But I have to say that South African rugby owes him a lot for his desire to do what is best for his nation. I’ve really grown fond of him over the last few years because of his sheer strength of character. There is no doubt that Erasmus hit the nail on the head in 2022 when he spoke to the Mail on Sunday.
He said: ‘People say the English system is the envy of the world because it has all the resources. I don’t agree. People say South Africa is stupid for allowing our players to leave.
‘Is it stupid? Look at England: there are six or seven South African players taking the place of English youngsters at Premiership clubs. For us it is wonderful.
‘Is it good for England? No.’
Absolutely right.
Rassie Erasmus has urged South African rugby stars playing in the UK is a “wonderful” thing to do
Under Premiership and RFU rules, the country’s top 10 clubs must have an average of 15 English Qualified Players (EQP) in their 23-match squads throughout the season.
Harlequins’ Tyrone Green (centre) is one of several South Africans playing in the Premiership
In the two years since Erasmus made those comments, English rugby has sought to make significant changes to improve this issue. At the start of this season, the RFU and Premiership Rugby confirmed that they had co-created the Professional Gaming Association, the system through which the English game will be developed in the future.
The aim was to establish, in their own words, “world-leading English teams and thriving professional leagues through a fully optimized performance system in partnership with our players.” Such a goal is worthy of applause. English rugby is doing a lot of things right and it seems to be going in the right direction. But is it enough?
England should always strive to be the number one rugby country on the planet. But how they get there is important. The detail is key.
Sir Clive Woodward, World Cup winning head coach and Mail Sport columnist
Premiership and RFU rules state that the country’s top 10 clubs must have an average of 15 English Qualified Players (EQP) in their 23-match squads throughout the season.
This means that on each Premiership weekend, 150 of the 230 players taking part in the match should be eligible to play for England. This is equivalent to 65 percent.
That’s good, but for me it’s not enough. My opinion is that the EQP number in a team of 23 should be 18, which is 78 percent.
It may seem like a small difference, but it would have a huge impact on creating a world-class England. Here’s why. The opening rounds of this season’s Premiership have had excellent viewing. The level of rugby and entertainment has been high.
It has been fantastic to see young English players like Afolabi Fasogbon get a chance.
But more needs to be done. In my opinion, in the Premiership at the moment there are still too many qualified non-English players who are not of the highest standard and blocking the development of the next generation of English stars. Let me explain more.
In the past, the Premiership has featured numerous international stars whose world-class profile, experience and ability not only raise the level and status of the Premiership, but also cross-pollinate through the clubs and help the next generation.
Now things are different. The financial problems experienced by Premiership clubs mean that fewer world-class players are playing locally in England.
England’s new rules simply do not go far enough in terms of developing our young players.
More needs to be done to allow young English players like Afolabi Fasogbon the chance to shine.
It could be argued that Bath’s Finn Russell (left) and Leicester’s Handre Pollard (right) are the only “world-class” non-English players employed at the Premiership club this season.
The fact that the competition is now a 10-team league also means there are fewer jobs available. A good argument could be made that Finn Russell and Handre Pollard are the only “world-class” non-English players employed by Premiership clubs this season.
For example, on the opening weekend of the Premiership season, Sale hosted Harlequins. Both teams started with South African-born locks. Of those four, only Stephan Lewies, the Harlequins captain, has represented the Springboks and that was in 2014.
This totally contradicts the vision of the PGP. Don’t Sale and Harlequins have young English locks they should give a chance? In the past, the Kolpak rule – which allowed players from South Africa and the Pacific Islands to sign contracts with English clubs without having to be classified as foreign stars – meant that young English talents were too often sidelined.
After Brexit, the Kolpak government no longer exists. However, it is clear that the status quo of the past still exists to some extent.
As we know, the RFU does not allow players from clubs outside of England to represent Steve Borthwick’s national team.
I have not agreed with this rule for a long time. Owen Farrell, Jack Willis, Henry Arundell and Kyle Sinckler are just four of the many France-based stars who would undoubtedly add depth and value to the vision of England being the number one team in the world. Every England coach needs to work in a no-excuses environment.
Having your hands tied behind your back for not selecting foreign players is crazy.
Players from clubs outside of England cannot represent Steve Borthwick’s national team.
Racing 92 flyhalf Owen Farrell (above) is just one of several France-based stars who would certainly add depth and value to the vision of England being the world’s number one team.
We are simply shooting ourselves in the foot.
But if the RFU remains steadfast in its foreign diktat, why then don’t we give full priority to giving young English talent a chance in our own league?
Erasmus and South Africa have the best of both worlds and, again, congratulations.
Their best players are based around the world, while their provinces are dominated by local products. It is no surprise that Erasmus can select at least two world-class Springbok teams and their system has brought in new stars such as Kurt-Lee Arendse and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, among others.
I don’t agree with England copying other countries’ systems, but it’s clear they have been successful elsewhere. Many of the game’s biggest stars will play in Japan, but its rules still protect the development of their own game. In Japan’s League One, each team can only have four foreign players on the field at a time.
In France, each TOP14 team must have a season average of 16 Frenchmen in their matchday squads or face fines or point deductions.
It is very clear that this rule has helped the French team achieve success after years of poor results.
We hope that England’s EQP decisions follow suit and achieve similar results. But Borthwick’s chances of future success at Test level could only be improved if EQP standards were improved further. Doing so would require courageous and proactive decision-making. But that’s what it takes to take England to number one.
South Africa’s astute system has helped Erasmus bring in bright young stars like Kurt-Lee Arendse (above) and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, among many others.
England must do the same with young players like Asher Opoku-Fordjour (above)
This summer, the England Under-20 team won the Youth World Cup. The RFU classify this cohort as one of the strongest age group sets the country has ever produced.
These players, like Fasogbon, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Craig Wright, Finn Carnduff and Henry Pollock are the future of the national team.
But of the entire England youth squad of the summer, only two players featured in the first round of the Premiership.
How will they quickly break into the senior England team if they don’t get a regular opportunity at club level?