Rejected petition English Rugby Players Playing Outside of England to be Allowed to Compete for their Nation

The RFU stubbornly disallow English talent playing Rugby outside of the country not to represent their nation. What is the point of having the freedom to work in the EU if Organisations such as this punish you with not allowing you the highest honour of representing your country? The experience of playing in other leagues would bring more competition for places and any domestic team places lost by players moving abroad would have to filled preferably with new young talent and help broaden the depth of the national team.

Current high profile players who would benefit from a change to this ruling would include European Player of the Year Steffon Armitage his brother Delon both playing at Toulon and Toby Flood at Toulouse. This would not be a right to be picked but a fair playing field to challenge for places.