Telegraph - Overseas Rules Relaxed for Worcester and Wasps Players

[Neils]

Wasps and Worcester players can still play for England if they move abroad

Rules on eligibility for England selection are relaxed as a result of crisis in Gallagher Premiership
By Ben Coles, Rugby Reporter 14 October 2022 • 3:51pm

Wasps and Worcester players forced to take up contracts overseas following their clubs' suspension from the Gallagher Premiership will remain eligible for England selection ahead of next year's Rugby World Cup.

The Professional Game Board, made up of Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Football Union, confirmed on Friday that should a club go into administration or cease to trade, then any English-qualified players who subsequently join an overseas club they shall be eligible for selection, due to what the RFU described as "exceptional circumstances".

Players will notably no longer remain eligible for England selection once the 2023 Rugby World Cup has concluded, suggesting any England hopefuls would only move abroad on short-term contracts.

The news will come as a boost for Wasps' England internationals including Joe Launchbury and Jack Willis, who along with the rest of the squad are pondering their next moves with the club set to go into administration next week.

England have previously shunned selecting players plying their trade overseas, although there have been exceptions when players had previously signed future contracts to join Premiership clubs following summer tours, as was the case with Ben Te'o, Piers Francis and Brad Shields.

Zach Mercer, the Montpellier No 8 recently crowned as the best player in France, will also be eligible for selection for the Rugby World Cup given he is set to join Gloucester for the 2023-24 season.

The last time England selected players based in France for a World Cup squad was back in 2011, when Jonny Wilkinson, Simon Shaw (both Toulon) and Tom Palmer (Stade Francais) were all called up for the tournament in New Zealand. James Haskell was also selected despite playing for Ricoh Black Rams in Japan at the time.

Reports in France on Friday suggested that Curtis Langdon, the former Worcester Warriors hooker, is in advanced talks to join Mercer at Montpellier. Langdon, who joined Worcester this summer from Sale Sharks, was capped twice by England last year.

[Shugs]

Hold on. I thought rules were rigid and unchangeable?

[Skippy]

Will Mercer really be eligible? If Gloucester go under, which may not be unlikely given the rumours, what would be his status then?