Joe Marchant has told Steve Borthwick that he wants to continue his England career but has accepted he will be off-limits for selection after moving to France.
Marchant will start his Stade Francais career next week, having now ended a nine-year stint at Harlequins.
The pacy centre cannot represent England while playing club rugby overseas, and does not qualify for the exceptional circumstances loophole clause.
Marchant agreed his Stade switch at the back end of last year, when his England career was languishing.
New boss Borthwick has since made him an integral part of England’s run to a third-place finish at the World Cup.
And Marchant has now admitted that it will be tough to accept the reality that his England career must stop – just when it had finally got going.
“It’s bittersweet for me; I obviously knew at the end of this campaign that I wasn’t going to be able to play for England afterwards,” said Marchant.
“But that just made me try to enjoy every moment of it, the wins, the losses, everything, the whole experience; just make the most of it.
“The message I’ve put out clearly is that I want to play for England, and I’d love to pull the shirt on again.
“So we’ll see what happens in regards to everything off the field with that.”
Henry Arundell will be able to play in the Six Nations next year despite moving to Racing 92.
The 20-year-old wing has been given dispensation under the exceptional circumstances clause, after London Irish went bust at the tail end of last season.
Jack Willis was able to use the same clause to keep playing for England at the World Cup, despite having moved to Toulouse last season.
The former Wasps flanker is now unavailable for England though, because he signed a new two-year deal to remain in France.
"The message I’ve put out clearly is that I want to play for England, and I’d love to pull the shirt on again"
England chief Bill Sweeney has already said that the RFU will look to help tempt the likes of Arundell back to the Premiership for next season.
The launch of hybrid contracts next term could help bolster that cause.
The RFU will select 25 England players to have two-tier contracts, part-funded by the union and the remainder by their clubs.
Head coach Borthwick is likely to have the key say in the composition of that 25-strong group, but those players will need to be based in England.
Marchant was able to use England’s bye week in the World Cup pool stages to set himself up in a Paris flat, and will link up with Stade for the first time next week.
He is expecting to miss out on a Six Nations call next year but has not yet given up hope of those circumstances changing.
“I’ve got my fingers crossed, because I just want to play for England, and it would just be great to pull on the shirt again,” said Marchant.
“I’ve said that I want to play for England, and if there’s any chance that I can play then I will. For the moment it’s not happening, but we’ll see. I’ve got my fingers crossed.”
