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England captain Itoje turned down French club move to fulfil Test dreams / Photo: Glyn KIRK - AFP
NYSE - LSE
England captain Itoje turned down French club move to fulfil Test dreams
England captain Maro Itoje has revealed he turned down lucrative offers from French rugby clubs in order to fulfil his international ambitions.
Itoje leads England in Saturday's Six Nations clash against France at Twickenham satisfied he made the right decision in January last year to stay at London side Saracens rather than accept an offer from either Lyon or Toulon.
"The reason I didn't pursue that is because I wanted to play for England," said Itoje, whose first match as England skipper ended in a 27-22 defeat by Six Nations champions Ireland in Dublin last week.
"I felt like my time in an England shirt was not quite done yet. In my heart of hearts, I would have been looking at England playing from across the Channel and I wouldn't have been at peace with the decision."
The 30-year-old lock added: "There are a whole load of different factors one can use to determine whether you stay here or go there but, for me, I felt if I went it would have been a bit premature if I went at that time."
Had Itoje joined a French side, he would have been ineligible for England selection because of a rule that prohibits coach Steve Borthwick from picking players at overseas clubs.
The Rugby Football Union regulation was introduced as a way to maintain the competitive standard of the English Premiership.
But with London Irish, Wasps and Worcester having all gone out of business in recent seasons, questions have been raised as to whether the ban is now doing more harm than good to England, who now face a France side fresh from a 43-0 rout of Wales in Paris.
There are currently 11 members of England's 2023 World Cup squad playing club rugby in France, with former captain Owen Farrell, Jack Willis and Joe Marchant among the players now unavailable to Borthwick.
Itoje, however, said: "We want all the best players to be available for selection for England.
"But everyone has their own individual careers and you have to make decisions which benefit you. I have a lot of respect for all the guys out there.
"I have played quite a lot of rugby and spent quite a lot of time with a lot of them. I wish them all the best.
"Many of them could be in England but that doesn't mean they would get picked because there is a lot of competition in almost every position. Nothing is guaranteed whether they are here or there."
U.Neumann--BlnAP
