Baxter backs England's home-based selection rule — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Rob Baxter, Exeter Chiefs director of rugby, told BBC Sport England's home-based selection rule is right for the domestic game, saying: "I just don't think, for the good of the English game, you can do it."
- Courtney Lawes, 37, who has 105 England caps, publicly called for overseas-based players to be eligible again after returning to the Prem this summer with Sale from two years at French side Brive, where he was ineligible.
- Under England's selection policy, players at overseas clubs can only be called up in exceptional circumstances, currently excluding Toulouse back row Jack Willis (voted best player in France 2024-25), Kyle Sinckler, Manu Tuilagi, Billy Vunipola, Lewis Ludlam and Sam Simmonds.
- Baxter framed the debate as a binary choice between making the best players available versus building Premiership Rugby as the pipeline for the England team, arguing the two require regulations on where English players play.
- Premiership clubs receive central payments from the RFU for their England players and gain a greater say in their management, creating a financial incentive Baxter says would erode if top English players could play anywhere.
- Baxter noted England's policy mirrors that of Ireland and New Zealand, while Scotland, South Africa and Australia do select overseas-based players, and urged England to "decide what we're comfortable with and stick to it."
Why it matters: Baxter's intervention gives the RFU political cover to keep its current policy intact ahead of a debate Lawes has reignited, protecting central RFU payments to Premiership clubs and the incentive structure that keeps English-qualified stars like Jack Willis out of the Test squad. With Willis starring in France and at least five capped players unavailable from abroad, the RFU is being asked to choose between short-term Test strength and long-term league health.
Ask SkimNews
