Jamie George has insisted England’s senior players should have a say in shaping the hybrid contracts that will come into force next season.
The RFU have plans to issue 25 two-tier contracts from next season onwards, which will help keep the top England players on home soil.
The additional RFU funding into the club game will ease the pressure on Premiership clubs, who have had to battle cash shortages after the pandemic.
The move will give England boss Steve Borthwick more control than ever over the chosen players, and also closer interaction with the clubs.
Saracens hooker George praised the move, but also urged the RFU to let England’s top players influence the finer points of the terms of those new deals.
“We just need a bit more clarity around it, obviously there’s a lot of whispers around it,” said George.
“It is hard for us because you hear the whispers and you might get excited, but at the same time we have to focus on the job at hand.
“What do I have is huge confidence in Steve (Borthwick) to make sure we get this right.
“If those central contracts or playing contracts do come in then I have every confidence that Steve will do it in the absolute right way that does not take away from the club game. That’s something that means a lot to me.
“I think this possibly could be a great thing for English rugby but I think it has to be done in the right way.
“Hopefully there will be plenty of player influence on that as well because there are a lot of very intelligent guys in this changing room who have a lot of things to say, and care a huge amount about the English game and its development going forward.
“You can see that in the way that a lot of the older guys are speaking about the future of this team and hopefully the RFU use us and we’re heavily involved in those conversations.”
England held off Argentina to win Friday night’s World Cup third-place play-off 26-23 in Paris.
George was relived and happy to claim the bronze medal, but insisted England’s agonising 16-15 semi-final loss to South Africa will leave a lifelong scar.
Courtney Lawes and Ben Youngs have officially now retired from Test rugby, with England’s World Cup at an end.
Dan Cole, Joe Marler, Jonny May and Danny Care are among a nucleus of senior players whose England careers may not stretch into 2024.
George vowed to step up his leadership efforts even further, given England will now be losing decades of Test savvy.
“We’ve got a lot of experienced guys hanging up their boots internationally, which is a huge shame,” said George.
“It might put a bit more responsibility on some of us older guys to carry it on. Hopefully, if I keep getting picked, I’ll happily take that mantle on.
“I think it is a hugely exciting time for English rugby. Honestly, this week the messages of support we’ve had from home, from everyone really, in terms of the pride we put back in it.
“Playing in an England shirt, the pride we put into the fans in the stands.
“Northern hemisphere rugby is at a real high at the minute. You look at Ireland, France and Scotland who had great World Cups and are great rugby teams. I think it will be a very exciting Six Nations.”
George has now experienced World Cup defeats in the 2019 final and the 2023 semi-final. The 33-year-old admitted those losses will never fully leave him.
“This has probably been the hardest week of my career if I’m completely honest,” said George.
“I was just sat in my hotel room hitting waves of sadness.
“But to be able to come away with a medal is really important. It was really important to send off some absolute legends, but it was also really important to send the message to the English public that we will still fight for everything.”
George praised boss Steve Borthwick for handing England a strong platform, but accepted the Red Rose men now need to broaden their attacking game.
“I think our foundations are strong, what we’ve done has shown that we can put our best foot forward against the best teams in the world,” said George.
“But ultimately, we want to be No1.
“There’s huge evolution in this team. Steve has come under a lot of heat but deserves a lot of credit.
“I think we know the attack needs to evolve. Richard Wigglesworth has done an incredible job in the last few months to develop that.
“We’ve shown in parts that we can cause teams some difficulty, but it’s going to be a focus point going forward.”
