We’re backing England insist Wasps, despite foreign legion

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Wasps insist they remain committed to developing England-qualified players despite falling well short of RFU targets for season 2015-16.

The Coventry-based outfit reached semi-finals in both the Premiership and Champions Cup, but in doing so fielded fewer English players than any other team.

Wasps selected an average of 12.26 England-qualified players per match day squad, set against a target of 15, which has cost them around £380,000 in RFU funding.

However, deputy chairman Nick Eastwood claims the situation is a “one-off” and says the arrivals of Danny Cipriani and Tommy Taylor, along with No.8 Nathan Hughes becoming England-qualified this month, will help redress the balance.

Eastwood told The Rugby Paper: “The aim is to build a team around EQPs and meet the RFU’s targets. Last season was a one-off because we had three on short-term contracts in Charles and Siale Piutau and George Smith.

“If you look at our ins and outs this summer, 11 players have left, of which only Alex Lozowski is EQP, while of the nine we’ve announced as arriving so far, seven are EQP including Danny Cipriani and Tommy Taylor.

“Every club faces the same dilemma at times and there are only a fixed number of top quality EQP players available. When it’s a choice between George Smith and an EQP who’s nowhere near as good, it’s a no-brainer.

“As a club in a new area in Coventry, the most important thing is to win because that’s what builds support. You can’t make the transition overnight but if you look at next season’s squad, it will largely be England-qualified.”

Harlequins are the Premiership’s top performing side in terms of fielding England-qualified players, while Northampton, Exeter and Bath also boasted impressive averages.

However, despite fielding high numbers of English players in their respective Champions Cup and Premiership finals, Saracens surprisingly fell short of the 15-man EQP target over the course of the season.

That can probably be explained by their sheer volume of England call-ups, and overall nine of the 12 Premiership clubs met their targets, meaning over 67 per cent of all players fielded in 2015-16 were England-qualified.

Bumper increases in the salary cap have raised fears that clubs may go down the expensive foreign route, with Kurtley Beale (Wasps), Matt Toomua (Leicester), Ben Te’o (Worcester) and Schalk Burger (Saracens) arriving this summer.

However, Premiership Rugby head of academies Mike Hynard reckons clubs are committed to EQP, telling TRP: “There’ll be plenty of opportunities for young English players, whether during international windows or the Anglo-Welsh Cup.

“Our academies are doing well and the salary cap increases give clubs a chance to introduce a sprinkling of stardust in terms of world-class players, which in itself can only be good for the development of EQPs.

“To be able to train and play alongside those guys is terrific and they’re only going to add value. I’m not concerned at all.”

In the Championship, Yorkshire Carnegie fielded almost fully English squads throughout the season, while champions Bristol were the division’s lowest EQP provid-ers with just 16.10 per 22.

NEALE HARVEY

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Tagged Aviva Premiership, England, Nick Eastwood, RFU, Wasps