Harlequins boss Laurie Dalrymple insists Premiership chiefs are confident of keeping top England players on home soil in the long term.
A glut of England stars will head to France after the World Cup, cutting short their Test careers under current regulations.
Premiership Rugby wants to keep the rule that stops overseas-based players featuring for England – and Quins chief executive Dalrymple believes the English league will find ways to stop any extended exodus.
Harlequins’ own England star Marcus Smith is thought to be weighing his overseas options with his contract expiring in 2024, but Dalrymple insists Premiership offers to the very top stars are more competitive than many think.
The agreements between the RFU and the clubs are being renegotiated for the 2024-25 season, and Dalrymple expects new terms to help keep England stars in the Premiership.
You’re dealing with different leagues, different cultures, different languages, different coaching styles.
“I don’t think it’s as simplistic as saying a player can be released to go and play wherever they want and then be eligible to play for England,” Dalrymple told Standard Sport.
“Actually, on the upper end of the scale, the average salaries of what the best players in England are being paid, the disparity is not as significant as people would think. If there’s an opportunity for these individuals to earn more money, I would completely respect that.
“But we’d be ultimately quite reluctant to have some of those players we brought through our academy simply to go overseas. I understand the logic and the rationale behind it, but we’d be disappointed.
“I think with open communication in the new agreement we can get to somewhere where we continue to be harmonious. Everyone gets their interests preserved in it, and hopefully England get the best players they can have and the clubs retain the best players that they can have.”
Saracens lock Maro Itoje last week challenged Premiership Rugby to make it “more competitive” for English players to stay playing in England.
Quins fly-half Smith will be out of contract at the same time as Itoje in summer 2024, and both England men are eyeing the opportunities on offer. Former Wasps flanker Jack Willis has signed a three-year deal to stay at Toulouse that will leave him ineligible for England selection after the World Cup.
Exeter are losing Luke Cowan-Dickie and Sam Simmonds to Montpellier this summer, with Jack Nowell heading to La Rochelle. David Ribbans will trade Northampton for Toulon, while Joe Marchant will quit Quins for Stade Francais.
Dalrymple defended the Premiership set-up, insisting home soil often represents the best fit.
“There are very different styles of rugby in some of the different leagues and the French Top 14 is a very different league from the English Premiership, “ said Dalrymple. “There’s a number of things to factor into the wider decision-making. And you’d assume the players are well-advised about that when they take their decisions.
“We’ve seen some players leave Quins to go overseas and ultimately things don’t go according to plan. It’s not what you want to see of course, but that’s the nature of the beast.
“You’re dealing with different leagues, different cultures, different languages, different coaching styles. It can be a challenge, and sometimes the process and the culture that you’re in, ultimately is the one that’s maybe best attended for the player in question.”
Harlequins host Newcastle on Saturday before entertaining Bath at Twickenham on April 22. The Bath clash has been billed as the Big Summer Kick-Off and is another chance for Quins to flex their muscles at the home of English rugby.
Tabai Matson’s men thumped Exeter 40-5 in the reorganised Big Game at Twickenham in early March, in front of a raucous crowd.
Quins were forced to shelve the original Big Game fixture slated for December 27 due to train strikes. The enforced changes have cost Quins more than £1million in revenue but Dalrymple has confidence in The Stoop club’s continued recovery after Covid.
“We’re putting our future budgets together, and we can defintiely see ourselves now moving closer to financial sustainability,” said Dalrymple. “We’re fortunate that we continue to have two shareholders who are incredibly invested in everything that we do, are very supportive and believe in the long-term vision of the club.
“But of course they want us to be self-sustainable, and I think that will be achievable in the not-too-distant future. We had really mixed emotions after the Exeter Big Game, because the result and performance were amazing, and we ticked every box in terms of the event and its identity.
“The financial impact of being forced to move from December is significant at the same time. But we’ve been really positive in coming out of the recovery period for Covid.
“Now this Big Summer Kick-Off match is another chance to put ourselves and the club game into a greater shop window. We love being at The Stoop but Twickenham gives us much more opportunity for something experiential, with music acts, and attractions before and after the game.”
