Marcus Smith could quit the English Premiership in order to fulfil his boyhood dream of winning the Champions Cup.
The England fly-half is proud to play for Harlequins and will do so at Twickenham on Saturday when Bath come to town for what is billed as the Big Summer Kick Off.
But he has yet to reach even the quarter-finals of European rugby’s showpiece tournament and, with a year left on his contract, casts an admiring glance across at French rugby.
Smith said: “If you look across to the Top 14, you see the dominance they have in Europe. For me that’s mainly down to the salary cap.
“If they’ve got more resources and finances to build their squads then they’re probably going to be in a better position to win those tournaments.
“I’ve never personally been further than the round of 16. When I was younger I wrote in my book that I want to win the Heineken Cup. To do that here in England is extremely tough and for me that’s a big draw.”
At the age of 24 and with 21 caps already to his name, Smith has a rich international future ahead of him if he stays in the Premiership.
But with an exodus of stars across the Channel this summer and England boss Steve Borthwick keen for the RFU to revise its Prem-only policy to enable him to select the very best, Smith is not alone in exploring opportunities further afield.
"I'm still early in my career, I want to experience different cultures, I want to play in different leagues, but I'll do that when the time is right," he said, turning to how he believes English rugby's top flight can be made a more attractive destination.
“There are avenues the Premiership can go down. A bit of variation in the game of rugby, which is so traditional, might entice a different audience to come and watch our games.
“That hopefully leads to better grassroots participation, an increase in the salary cap, better teams and hopefully European titles come back to England.”
As of now French clubs have greater spending power due to a salary cap well in excess of Premiership Rugby’s £5 million, though sources indicate the top players are actually on comparative, if not better money in England.
By the time Smith’s contract is up, the cap will be back to £6.4m and with allowances and credits factored in, Premiership clubs will be able to spend around £8.3m - close to the £9.2m in France.
Furthermore, the French have to pay more players in their cap. Reality, however, has yet to catch up with perception.
Ellis Genge will be available for all of England’s four World Cup warm-up matches this summer after his ban for a dangerous tackle in Bristol’s loss to Sale was restricted to Bears’ final two games.
Exeter boss Rob Baxter has reminded his players to be more careful with their social media use after Jack Nowell was charged for criticising a referee’s decision on Twitter. He will learn his fate today.
