Martin Johnson has say on England's overseas selection policy
Tuesday 19 May 2015 13:59, UK
Martin Johnson has little sympathy for players who have ruled themselves out of the England picture by playing their club rugby abroad.
Johnson says former internationals, in particular Steffon Armitage and Nick Abendanon, knew the risks to their international careers when they left the Aviva Premiership for France.
Toulon's Armitage continues to be overlooked despite being named European Player of the Year in 2014, an award this year by Abendanon, who joined Clermont from Bath last summer.
Both are viewed as contenders to be in Stuart Lancaster's World Cup squad - he is set to name his 45-man training party this month - but they can only be selected if he determines they meet the 'exceptional circumstances' criteria.
They knew the situation. If they wanted to put themselves in a situation to play for England... then come over and play here. It's as simple as that.
Johnson, who led England to World Cup glory in 2003, said: "Ultimately guys know the rules. If they want to come and play for England they'd be an England player. Whether it's exceptional circumstances or not it doesn't matter.
"They knew the situation. If they wanted to put themselves in a situation to play for England - like all the guys in England are doing - then come over and play here. It's as simple as that.
"When I was doing the England job, we had guys go before the rule was in there. It created issues, let's be honest. It created issues for us, it created a lot of issues for the players at times and was difficult.
"I can understand on a number of levels why the rule is there. Rightly or wrongly, disagree with it or not. If you're a player and you want to play for England you know what to do."
'Fantastic'
Johnson won 84 caps for England and insisted desire to play had to be the first priority for any player and team.
"The number one criteria for any rugby player playing for any rugby team anywhere in the world is you desperately want to come and play," he added. "If you desperately want to come and play, then you come over here for this year to get yourself in a World Cup.
"I loved playing club rugby. Winning European Cups is fantastic and it's a big part of what you do, but ultimately if you're good enough you want to have the best opportunity to play for your country and play in the biggest games of all, which are Test matches and World Cups.
"If you don't get yourself in England, rightly or wrongly, you're not going to get the chance. If they really wanted to come and play, they'd be here doing it.
"It comes back to that initial criteria - you want guys who are desperate to come and play. If you're desperate to come and play, then get yourself in England.
"There's any number of calls you could make on picking and not picking in 'exceptional circumstances'. They've got a rule in place, it's pretty clear, been there for quite a long time."
