Foreign players are both cheaper and always on call

A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME

- JEFF PROBYN

Chris Boyd, a New Zealander, has questioned why England seem to have an obsession with employing so many overseas coaches. The Northampton director of rugby could just as easily have asked why there are also so many overseas players, particularly considering that England have the largest player base of the world game.

The answer is, it is much cheaper than buying players from home in most cases and they also bring something different to the table. If you are an owner, your expectations are it will give your squad an advantage over those who have learned the game here.

Add in the shortcut factor where buying an experienced player means they hit the ground running so there’s no need for the protracted period of investment in their development and the attractions are obvious.

With coaches, a perfect example is Eddie Jones, who is the first foreigner to take the helm of the national team in England. Although England, despite being the biggest and best financially supported union, have had a pretty average run when it comes to success with the Rugby World Cup, having reached just four finals – 1991, 2003, 2007 and 2019 – in nine competitions while only winning once.

Until 2019, 2003 was the only time England had a coach who had previous experience of taking a squad to what the World Cup, a unique competition in the game of rugby.