Hopley fears player exodus

Rugby Players Association chief executive Damian Hopley has expressed his concern over a potential exodus of top English players to French clubs.

Stand-off Jonny Wilkinson looks set to extend his stay in Toulon, while Sale are expecting prop Andrew Sheridan to join him in the south of France at the end of the season.

Some of England's most exciting prospects such as Ben Foden, Courtney Lawes and Chris Ashton are also reported to have attracted interest from across the Channel.

And all this despite the fact that England recently declared they would only select overseas-based players in "exceptional circumstances" after next year's World Cup.

Read more: http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,2...579690,00.html

Good news. The more the cashed up French clubs pay for English players. The less they have to spend (an the less squad spots) they have for looting Australian players. You wouldn't worry too much about Australian players leaving. The Aussie dollar is riding high and there is the once in a lifetime Lions tour to think about.

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Originally Posted by James

Good news. The more the cashed up French clubs pay for English players. The less they have to spend (an the less squad spots) they have for looting Australian players. You wouldn't worry too much about Australian players leaving. The Aussie dollar is riding high and there is the once in a lifetime Lions tour to think about.

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but then the English clubs are going to look south

The pound to the dollar used to be 40p to the dollar two years back. Now its 60p to the dollar. That is a huge difference in pay. That means that pay in Australian dollars for any given contract has technically decreased by 33%. Or a 300,000 pound contract that was worth $750,000 is now only worth $500,000. We'll get some players leaving but it won't be anything different to before.