Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter says England's rules on selecting only home-based players are the right thing for the domestic game. Former England forward Courtney Lawes has called for overseas-based players to be eligible to be picked for the England side. The 37-year-old, who has won 105 England caps, returned to the Prem this summer with Sale, having spent two years at French side Brive where he was ineligible to represent his country.

Baxter feels it is important the rules are not changed. 'I just don't think, for the good of the English game, you can do it,' he told BBC Sport. 'It's not that I don't understand the arguments, I do.' There's two arguments here, do you just want to make all the best players available to play for England or do you want to build Premiership Rugby as part of how you build the England team?'

Under England's selection policy, players can only be called up from overseas clubs in exceptional circumstances. Baxter argues that if it just comes down to purely finance, then it's a tough, competitive situation for Premiership clubs, and when people just throw it out there that players should be allowed to play anywhere they like, I think you've got to look down at the deeper repercussions of what may actually happen in the English game overall. Figure caption, Will we see Courtney Lawes in an England shirt again? Under the rules as they stand, England are unable to call on players such as Toulouse back row Jack Willis - who was voted the best player in France in 2024-25 - as well as Kyle Sinckler, Manu Tuilagi, Billy Vunipola, Lewis Ludlam and former Exeter star Sam Simmonds.