INTERVIEW: Steffon Armitage insists overseas rule must be scrapped

Steffon Armitage insists England’s ban on overseas-based players ‘should have been scrapped a long time ago’… while the former Toulon star warns rugby could be ‘EXTINCT in 10 or 20 years’ amid concussion and financial crises

• Steffon Armitage has expressed his belief that overseas rule should be scrapped 
• Armitage also revealed that he is fearful for the long-term future of rugby 
• The 37-year-old spent time in international wilderness despite his form

As he stares out over the Côte d’Azur and the bright spring sun reflects off the crystal-clear French waters, Steffon Armitage lets out a big sigh before managing a wry smile.

‘That’s a very, very, very sore subject for me,’ he says. ‘Very, very sore. I’ve still got a few demons when I talk about this.’

The question posed to Armitage is whether English rugby should change its ruling of not selecting players based abroad for the national team. Armitage, still going strong in the game at 37, is the unwanted poster boy for this topic after years spent in the international wilderness despite his impressive form when playing for Toulon. He won just five England caps. It should surely have been more.

‘The ruling should have been scrapped a long time ago,’ says Armitage, sipping on an espresso in a beachside side bar on Nice’s Promenade des Anglais. ‘Now I definitely think they have to.’ As the gentle waves lap the shore, it couldn’t be a more appropriate place for an Englishman abroad to discuss one of his country’s biggest burning rugby topics.

‘I’ve always said a coach’s job is to get the best out of their player,’ Armitage adds. ‘If a player wants to go abroad and get the experience of playing a different game which he can bring back to the England set-up, then why would you say no to that?

Steffon Armitage says English rugby should change its ruling of not selecting players based abroad for the national team

‘I think English rugby has missed a trick in not giving those players the chance to experience something different. It was the way to make it better and take us to the level of other teams. Quite a lot of players are going to finish their careers and say ‘I was told to stay to fight for my England shirt. I stayed and fought, but even though I played my best I didn’t get a chance.’It’s too late by then. You should never have any regrets in rugby. I was supposed to come back for the 2015 World Cup. It wasn’t enough for me.

‘They told me I wasn’t good enough so I left to become a better player. I did that over here and it still got thrown back in my face. It was hard.’

It has been a decade since the clamour for Armitage to play Test rugby first began to reach biblical levels as he tore up the TOP14 and European Cup with Toulon. After stints with Saracens and London Irish, Armitage opted for the south of France – where he spent a large part of his childhood – in 2011.He joined Toulon, bringing an end to his England career as it was only just getting started. 

He would go on to win three European Cups on the French Riviera and excel in the famous red shirt. Armitage’s ability was clear, but in France he was unable to play for first Martin Johnson and then Stuart Lancaster due to England’s selection policy. 

Armitage is adamant the English game would benefit from players with different experiences

It seemed a waste given he was named European player of the year for the 2013/14 season. Now, once again, there is a clamour for a change in the ruling. England flanker Jack Willis, now with Toulouse after the demise of Wasps, is the only current player able to be in France and represent Steve Borthwick’s team. That’s because he was given special dispensation to do so by the RFU after losing his job when Wasps entered administration. 

Willis now looks set to stay at Toulouse beyond the end of this season, likely making him ineligible for England duty. English stars moving abroad and whether they should still be able to play Test rugby is an issue that is not going away. 

More and more players are quitting the cash-strapped Premiership for France and giving up on international caps for better financial packages and a new lifestyle. 

Jack Nowell, who is joining La Rochelle, is the latest and follows in the footsteps of his Exeter, England and Lions team-mates Sam Simmonds and Luke Cowan-Dickie. ‘People will say I had the chance to come back to England. It wasn’t as easy as that,’ Armitage says. ‘Stuart came over and sat down with me in 2014. He said they couldn’t relax the rule, that I had to come back, and that there was a good chance I’d be playing if I was in England. 

‘It frustrated me they didn’t try harder or make more of an effort. I had a long-term contract with Toulon so there were transfer fees involved. I got asked the question if I wanted to go back.’

I said I’d join Bath on loan. We were playing in Toulouse and Mike Ford called me. He said the deal was done and I’d be on a flight the next day. I had a good game and I was expecting to say goodbye.’Just before we got on the bus home, I was told the deal was off. I played the whole game thinking it was my last. I thought it was going to be like I’d been traded in American football!

Armitage, who currently plays for Stade Nicois, made a major impact during his time at Toulon

‘If I had to turn down England, it would be for Toulon. There was frustration but I was also creating a history with Toulon the club will never have again. To say I was part of that helps me when I know I didn’t play in a World Cup. I just didn’t understand why you had to be in England. There was talk of relaxing the rule for special circumstances. It went on for a while.

‘I definitely wish I could have had more caps but I still represented my country and with my brother, too. I’ve no regrets.’ 

It is put to Armitage that perhaps his face didn’t fit the Lancaster regime. ‘I think so,’ he says, deadpan. ‘If you look at the back-rows England typically pick, I’m not like James Haskell – tall with a six pack! That was never my thing! My mum gave me this body and I love it. 

Armitage spent years in the international wilderness despite impressing for Toulon

‘You could just see they wanted a bigger, taller player. I’ll always say I feel I could have made a difference on the pitch. We’ll never know.’With Armitage absent, England bombed out of their home World Cup in 2015 with the catastrophe costing Lancaster his job. Armitage never featured at international level again.Yet, he is more than happy with his lot. 

A fluent French speaker, Armitage had stints at Pau and Biarritz after Toulon and is now with Nice in the French third tier. There have been brushes with controversy. In 2019, San Diego Legion released Armitage after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman. In 2012, he was provisionally suspended for abnormal drug test results but later cleared of a doping charge.

According to Armitage, he should have won far more than five international caps for England

As we talk, Armitage receives texts from former Toulon colleagues Leigh Halfpenny and Paul ‘Bobby’ Stridgeon who are keen to catch up while they’re in the city training with Wales.Conversation then turns to England’s 53-10 thrashing by France at Twickenham last weekend and the future of the game he loves.

‘Either England crumble from here when they go to Ireland because being humiliated by France is still in their heads,’ Armitage says.

‘Or they’ll go the other way. That’s what I think will happen’It’s a reality check. The way France play should be the benchmark for most international teams. England need to use this as a learning curve. I think they will be better off for the pain. Now we’ll see who the players we can rely on are. It was tough for me to watch. I had a tear in my eye. I watched it at the club. Luckily, most of the Nice boys think I’m French!’

Armitage and his wife Katie, who is studying for a Masters in wine, love life in Nice. They watch the city’s football team and are in touch with English-speaking players Aaron Ramsey, Kasper Schmeichel and Ross Barkley. France has always felt like home for Armitage, even if things could have been very different.

The 37-year-old revealed that he has major concerns for the long-term future of rugby

‘Look outside. It’s 18 degrees in March while it’s snowing in London,’ says Armitage with a broad grin. He then gets deadly serious for a second. ‘The way rugby is going I don’t think it will exist in 10 or 20 years,’ Armitage adds.

‘There are so many financial problems. With the worry of concussion and the impact of head injuries, will the next generation want to play the game? I think about my former team-mate Carl Hayman. When I speak to him, I realise sometimes he forgets his kids’ names. ‘It makes me think ‘F***, maybe I shouldn’t have put my head in so many rucks.’

‘There are things I would change but if I had, I wouldn’t have been the same player. So many talented players are seeing their careers cut short for various reasons.

‘For me to be able to say I’ve done this for 21 years means I’m one of the lucky ones. There are lots of things I could have done, but I’ve achieved a hell of a lot. I’m content.’

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