Blow for England as Australia move the goalposts to allow stars based abroad to play

Wallabies’ decision to start selecting foreign-based stars is bad news for Lancaster and puts spotlight back on Armitage issue ahead of World Cup

When a couple of globetrotting Australians, the majestically coiffured wing Nick Cummins and the wild child utility back James O’Connor, decided that World Cup business was more important than business of the financial kind and returned to their native land late last year with Wallaby selection in mind, those England supporters already alarmed at the prospect of Israel Folau, Tevita Kuridrani, Matt Toomua, Bernard Foley and Quade Cooper embarking on a Twickenham tear-up this autumn were tempted to reach for the anti-depressants.

Now, those same supporters are phoning the Samaritans in sufficient numbers to threaten a jamming of the switchboard. The decision by the Australian Rugby Union to relax its strict eligibility rules by allowing foreign-based Wallabies with a lengthy track record of service in the “green and gold” to return to Test duty raised two concerns for the red-rose hierarchy: it sent a strong signal to the outstanding wing Drew Mitchell that despite earning a packet in France with the double European champions Toulon, he is in the frame for an international comeback; and – far, far worse – it did the same in respect of the midfielder Matt Giteau, another resident of the Côte d’Azur, who may well be the most accomplished inside centre currently playing the sport.

Bill Pulver, the chief executive of the ARU, announced that exiled Wallabies who have spent at least seven years playing homeland rugby and have at least 60 caps in the bank, are now available to the national coach Michael Cheika. Previously, the Australians were unwilling to select anyone not contracted to the governing body, which is currently struggling with a A$6.3m deficit (£3.26m).

Toulon star Steffon Armitage can't play for England because of the selection policy (Getty Images)

“This is a pivotal moment,” said the CEO. “Those players who meet the threshold have already invested heavily in, and contributed to, Australian rugby over a long period of time. It’s a decision that recognises the changing dynamics of a global market.” In other words, the Wallabies accept they cannot compete with the wages on offer in Europe and see no point in undermining their own fortunes at Test level by standing on a point of principle – a move that leaves them closer to Scotland, who have never had the money to keep all their best players at home, than to New Zealand, who flatly refuse to countenance selecting from abroad.

England play Australia in a momentous World Cup group match on 3 October – a match that could, depending on the outcome of their meeting with Wales the previous weekend, dump the hosts clean out of the tournament. All things considered, then, the news from Sydney of the ARU’s sudden change of tack was most unwelcome to the national head coach Stuart Lancaster and his colleagues on the back-room roster, not simply because the Australians will be even more dangerous than usual with Giteau in the mix but also because it leaves Lancaster’s own selection policy at the mercy of a growing battalion of critics.

As it stands, Lancaster will not pick a foreign-based player for the Test squad: not even Steffon Armitage, yet another Toulon “galactico” who has prospered, financially and in most other ways, since pitching up on the Riviera. But every time this outsized limpet of a flanker clamps his arms around the ball at the tackle area and earns his team a priceless turnover – half a dozen times a game, on average – the clamour grows for a reappraisal.

In theory, Lancaster has a get-out: under Rugby Football Union guidelines, he can send for an off-shore exile under “exceptional circumstances”. Many of those urging him to summon Armitage without further ado say there are no circumstances more exceptional than an imminent World Cup tournament on home soil at which England find themselves in a veritable pig of a pool. The problem? The coach has clearly indicated that, in his view, this is not what is meant by the “EC” qualification.

And, of course, he is entirely correct. Armitage could legitimately be drafted in the event of a heavy injury toll among the existing back-rowers in the squad, but not because there happens to be a World Cup round the corner. Two current England forwards, the Leicester hooker Tom Youngs and the Wasps flanker James Haskell, have already had things to say on this subject and it is as plain as the busted noses on their beaten-up faces that a convenience call at this stage of proceedings would exasperate those who have put their commitment to the red-rose cause ahead of some moneybags deal in a foreign land.

Haskell went wandering after the last World Cup – he played in Japan before signing a Super 15 contract in New Zealand with the Otago-based Highlanders, yet headed for home in 2012 because he understood the deal and accepted it.

“My view is as follows,” he told this newspaper earlier in the season, when the Armitage bandwagon was first gathering pace. “The way I see it, life is one big opportunity – it’s there to be experienced. If I’d listened to everyone who told me not to do something as I was making my way in rugby, I’m not sure where I’d have ended up. I’d support any player who wants to get out there in the big wide world and explore the possibilities it offers. Yet, I also have to say that the rules as they currently stand are pretty black and white. I came back to England because I wanted to play rugby for England. I’m not here to judge the rules. I just know what the rules are and I’ve acted accordingly.”

Youngs, who has never played serious rugby for a club outside the Midlands, was more blunt. “For someone to come in from abroad and take your spot after the years of graft you’d put in, you’d be pretty gutted,” the Lions Test front-rower said recently. “I don’t know how well it would go down with the team. Stuart has built a culture within this group of players. Does he want to disrupt it? You’d have to ask him, but there are guys who might look at it and not agree with it.”

The odds are against Lancaster turning to Armitage: leaving the politics aside, he is all too aware of the former Saracens and London Irish player’s occasional off-field behavioural excesses. But the argument is likely to continue until the coach names his World Cup training squad next month and will certainly intensify if the flanker turns it on for Toulon in their European Champions Cup final against Clermont Auvergne next weekend – a match that will be played at Twickenham, of all places.

Yesterday’s move by the Australians could have been worse from the English perspective: a number of high-calibre Wallabies playing in Europe or Japan – the wing Digby Ioane, the outside-half Berrick Barnes, the prop Salesi Ma’afu, the lock Sitaleki Timani, the back-rower Ben Mowen – do not meet the new criteria and are, therefore, out of the World Cup running, unless there is a further change of heart. But the presence of Giteau alone will be a major threat to red-rose prospects of making the most of their own tournament.

Remember how he won last year’s Heineken Cup with a single flash of brilliance against Saracens in Cardiff? We can rest assured that Lancaster recalls it in every detail – especially now that England could find themselves on the painful end of something similar.

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Country by country - how stances differ

England

No selection of foreign-based players unless under “exceptional circumstances” – generally taken to mean an injury crisis.

Wales

Currently picking from abroad, but keen to bring exiles home by offering “dual” contracts partly financed by the governing body.

Ireland

Prefer to pick home-based players, although Jonathan Sexton was selected for Six Nations duty from the Parisian club Racing Métro.

France

High salaries keep all Test candidates at home.

Scotland, Italy, Argentina, Pacific island nations

No choice but to choose exiled players.

New Zealand

Will not pick from abroad. End of.

South Africa

Happy to pick their globetrotters, including the Bath flanker Francois Louw.

Australia

Abandoned the All Black approach yesterday by reaching out to experienced internationals playing in Europe.