Wales coach Shaun Edwards warns French-based players run risks
Friday 17 October 2014 14:34, UK
Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards has warned that players opting to play in France risk potential fitness problems.
The issue of lucrative salaries in France's Top 14 attracting Europe's top players has been brought into sharp focus by the ongoing saga surrounding Toulon back row Steffon Armitage, whose proposed move to Bath fell through on Thursday.
With England head coach Stuart Lancaster showing no signs of making an exception to his rule of not picking foreign-based players for the European Player of the Year, Edwards has admitted he would prefer to see Wales' stars plying their trade in their own domestic league.
"We want our players to be match fit obviously but ideally we'd like them to be match fit playing for a Welsh region because we can keep our eye on them much better there.
We found when we go to France that it's often a very attritional game there and we found that sometimes their fitness levels suffer when they're there, and that's something we put huge emphasis on in Wales.
"We found when we go to France that it's often a very attritional game there and we found that sometimes their fitness levels suffer when they're there, and that's something we put huge emphasis on in Wales.
"I think it (Armitage's potential move to Bath) is dead in the water. I heard Mike Ford speaking last night and he seemed adamant that Steffon wouldn't be going to Bath.
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"I absolutely understand the RFU's position. They've shown they're backing the head coach by extending his contract and it shows that they're fully backing his decision not to pick foreign-based players."
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This weekend brings a packed schedule of European Champions Cup rugby with Scarlets travelling to take on holders Toulon, who were beaten 21-10 by Toulose in front of the Sky Sports cameras on Sunday evening.
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Edwards said: "I can't think of a worse place to go for the Scarlets. It's quite a long journey going back to Toulon from Toulouse. They'll have travelled through the night on Sunday night but they'll be very pumped up.
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"They played against Toulouse, who really had their backs to the wall. There were flashes of Toulouse at home - playing with a lot of flair, particularly in broken-field situations and they scored a couple of lovely tries as well.
"Looking at Ospreys v Treviso, you look at the Ospreys team and they've got a lot of young players coming through - they're very mobile and can get around the park.
"They're very organised and a well-coached team and in Alun-Wyn Jones they've got one of the very best leaders. He's a world, world class player.
"I think this Treviso team have been hammered with people leaving and I think Ospreys will definitely be going for a five-point game."
Watch Sale Sharks v Munster in the European Champions Cup, Saturday 12,30pm, Sky Sports 2
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Watch Ospreys v Treviso in the European Champions Cup, Sunday 12.30pm, Sky Sports 2
Watch Toulon v Scarlets in the European Champions Cup, Sunday 3pm, Sky Sports 2
