Haskell 'tug-of-war' continues
Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:47
Stade Francais' initial request for England to release James Haskell for their vital Top 14 clash against arch-rivals Toulouse has turned into a demand, as the 'club-vs-country' battle continues.
Stade Francais have demanded that England release James Haskell for their weekend game against Toulouse, with the Paris club denying there is any agreement in place with the RFU to allow the 24-year-old to rest.
France has released all of its squad back their respective clubs for this weekend's Top 14 games, with club coaches expecting a similar arrangement from England.
The RFU though, maintain that Haskell's contract means that he is ineligible for any domestic action while with the England squad, and will rest this weekend ahead of the final two matches of this season's Six Nations tournament.
"Stade Francais - finding England international James Haskell absent from training - asked the back-rower to return immediately to France," said a club statement.
"This period is not provided for in the IRB's international windows and Stade Francais have a big match against Stade Toulousain on Saturday.
"The RFU responded that they will refuse to release Haskell on the grounds that an agreement was signed between them and Stade Francais. No agreement has ever been signed with the RFU, contrary to what they claim. If it is so, the RFU can produce this so called agreement."
The strongly worded statement wasn't finished there.
"The RFU have surely confused us with other clubs such as Toulon, who had to accept an agreement for this season relating to Jonny Wilkinson. Therefore, Stade Francais are ordering James Haskell, who has already missed two training sessions, to kindly rejoin his club urgently."
"The RFU have signed agreements with English clubs, whom they reimburse for placing their international players at their disposition outside of IRB international windows. This is not the case for French clubs who, thus, do not have to fund the preparation of the England team."
This week is not considered an international week by the International Rugby Board as there are no Six Nations matches this weekend.
But the RFU insist they do have an agreement that allows the 24-year-old flanker to remain with the England squad.
"Our position is as it has been for the past two days," an England spokesman said Wednesday.
"James will be staying with England as his contract with Stade Francais allows him to be available during EPS (Elite Player Squad) periods. We have nothing further to add to that."
Haskell has featured in the last 20 England Tests and has started all three matches of the current Six Nations campaign, scoring two tries and earning the man-of-the-match award in the 30-17 victory over Wales at Twickenham.
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