English rugby will have to take all the repercussions square on the chin should Owen Farrell opt to quit the country for France this summer.
The chances of Farrell leaving his sole club Saracens for Parisian giants Racing 92 are increasingly strong.
The reverberations of the England captain leaving his country behind would be seismic — all parties would have little choice but to take the hit, however.
When even Saracens boss Mark McCall admits it would be “obvious” what would happen if England scrapped their policy of refusing to select overseas-based players, then the reality has to dawn on the wider game.
McCall clearly wants to keep his talisman and captain Farrell beyond the summer, and a large part of the 32-year-old fly-half has always wanted to be a one-club career man.
There was a time when McCall could perhaps have been convinced of the idea English clubs had the power to combat the lucrative lures of France’s Top 14. Perhaps those days will come again but, for now, the moneyed French elite hold the bargaining power.
Remove the overseas player rule and what McCall dubs “obvious” is an exodus across the Channel.
"An opportunist strike by Racing is damaging on the surface, but it could actually be made to work in England’s favour"
The Gallagher Premiership can ill afford such a mass departure, hence McCall’s reluctance to let that restrictive rule slip.
The 112-cap Farrell had already opted to step down from Test duties for the Six Nations, weeks before the notion of a Racing 92 switch came to light.
An opportunist strike by the French outfit is damaging on the surface, but it could actually be made to work in England’s favour.
Saracens would doubtless hope any departure by Farrell would be treated by England’s record points-scorer as a de facto sabbatical.
The club would obviously want Farrell back as soon as possible, should he leave in the first place.
England’s Test players need breaks in a calendar that offers none, so Farrell’s stark move to step away from international duty is the first step towards a more sympathetic system.
If his next port of call is Paris, then he can enjoy two years of a new challenge — and still be available for both the 2025 Lions tour and the 2027 World Cup.
Farrell would be eligible for the Lions even if still in France, and that tour to Australia still looms large on his to-do list. The 2027 World Cup, also Down Under, remains another big goal for one of England’s key men, too.
Return to the Premiership in the summer of 2025, and Farrell would clearly back himself to force his way back into the England picture.
A Steve Borthwick-led England regime would take him back in a heartbeat at that point, however many trees Marcus Smith, George Ford and Fin Smith tear up in the meantime.
And were Farrell to return having led the Lions to glory in Australia, he would have proved his Test-match point while still in effect in England exile.
