Baxter defends England's home-based selection policy — SkimNews
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- Rob Baxter, Exeter's director of rugby, defended England's home-based selection policy, arguing that allowing top English players to play abroad would damage Premiership Rugby and the wider English game
- Courtney Lawes, a 37-year-old with 105 England caps, publicly called for overseas-based players to be made eligible after spending two years at French side Brive where he could not represent his country; Lawes returned to the Prem with Sale this summer
- Current rules bar several England-capped players including Jack Willis — voted the best player in France in 2024-25 at Toulouse — alongside Kyle Sinckler, Manu Tuilagi, Billy Vunipola, Lewis Ludlam, and former Exeter star Sam Simmonds
- Baxter acknowledged a self-interested motive, noting that central RFU payments to Premiership clubs for their England players financially incentivise keeping top English talent domestic and give the national side greater say in player management
- England's selection policy mirrors Ireland and New Zealand, while Scotland, South Africa and Australia do select players from overseas clubs
- Under the rules as they stand, overseas-based players can only be called up in exceptional circumstances
Why it matters: Baxter's defence of the status quo matters because loosening the policy would eliminate the central RFU payments and player-management leverage that currently incentivise England's top stars to stay in the Premiership — a financial structure Baxter explicitly flagged as essential to clubs like Exeter and the wider domestic game's competitiveness.
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