Warning for France-based stars

Andrew: has spoken to players

By definition, if you cannot come training with the rest of the squad you put yourself at a disadvantage. If a player wants to play for England he has to have these things catered for.

Rob Andrew
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Rob Andrew has warned France-bound players they will be dropped by England if they fail to guarantee their full availability for international duty until the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Three current England squad members - James Haskell, Riki Flutey and Tom Palmer - have agreed summer moves to the French Top 14. More are expected to follow

England internationals heading to France are expected to include the same release and welfare clauses in their contracts that govern England's access to domestic-based players.

But Andrew admitted that is currently not the case and he warned that any player who fails to comply with England's demands by July 1 will be axed from the squad.

"Martin Johnson and I have spoken to the players and we are speaking to their agents and the French clubs to ensure the conditions are in their contracts to allow them to fulfil the same obligations that we have in England," said Andrew.

"There is a lot of work still to be done on that. The intention is to get all of that information for when Martin announces the squad on July 1.

"We are effectively saying to all the players that if you cannot fulfil the obligations under the elite player agreement then you will not be considered for the England squad.

"We cannot stop people going to sign a contract in the European market. What we can do is try to protect the integrity of the England programme we have put in place to provide the England team manager with the best possible preparation for the national team.

Disadvantage

"By definition, if you cannot come training with the rest of the squad you put yourself at a disadvantage. If a player wants to play for England he has to have these things catered for."

The elite player agreement that exists between the RFU and English clubs not only covers additional international release days but rest periods and medical profiling, which would be much harder to insist upon.

Andrew will meet with officials from Flutey's club Brive and Stade Francais, where Haskell and Palmer are heading, to discuss the contractual issues in the coming weeks.

England will also demand that all players are available for the 2010 summer tour of Australia, the last major trip before the 2011 World Cup squad.

The French final is scheduled to take place seven days before England's first Test against the Wallabies, which would clash with the two-week preparation period.

RFU chief executive Francis Baron said: "We will never again send a team into a Test match without two weeks' preparation."

Baron accepted the policy could mean an established England player - potentially the likes of a Haskell or Flutey - would have to be axed from Johnson's elite squad on July 1.

"We accept that. This policy has always been tough and it has been clear. The policy does have teeth," he stressed.