Allow overseas stars to play for England - Lawes

Courtney Lawes walks past fans after getting off a coach

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption,

Sale have recruited heavily this summer with Joe Marchant, Alex Lozowski, Nicky Smith and Tomas Francis among those joining Courtney Lawes at the club

ByMike HensonBBC Sport rugby union news reporter

Published28 minutes ago

England selection should no longer be restricted to players based at domestic clubs, according to cap centurion Courtney Lawes.

The 37-year-old is back in contention to add to his 105 England appearances, having signed a one-year deal with Sale after two seasons at Brive in the French second tier.

A clutch of English talent - notably Toulouse star Jack Willis - remain across the Channel and out of reach for England head coach Steve Borthwick.

"I can see why they do it because they don't want all their players playing abroad, but I don't think that's necessarily going to be the case anyway," said Lawes.

"It's important that you have the best players available for selection. If we want the game to develop and more people to watch it, I think it has to develop.

"I just reckon you make your best players available and by any means necessary.

"I don't see why you'd limit yourself."

In addition to Willis, who was voted the best player in France in 2024-25 and could well retain the award after a player-of-the-match performance in the Top 14 final in June, Willis' brother Tom, Kyle Sinckler, Manu Tuilagi, David Ribbans, Billy Vunipola, Lewis Ludlam and Junior Kpoku also ply their trade in France.

Jack Willis gestures during a match with his arms open

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Jack Willis has been at Toulouse since the collapse of Wasps in 2022

England have better access and control over players who are at Prem clubs. The clubs, in turn, benefit from central payments from the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and more chance of retaining their biggest stars, who face international exile with a move overseas.

Other nations, such as New Zealand, France and Ireland, have a policy of picking home-based players, but some of England's other rivals, such as South Africa, Australia and Scotland, lean heavily on players based abroad.

Borthwick has opted not to include either Lawes or Joe Marchant, his new Sale team-mate who has spent the past three seasons at Stade Francais in Paris, in his first training camp of the season, asking them to prove themselves in the Prem first.

The England coach adopted a similar approach when Owen Farrell returned from Racing 92 at the start of last season.

"I spoke to Steve a little bit," said Lawes, who played 80 minutes in a 50-28 win over Bath in the Prem Rugby Cup on Sunday, to Rugby Union Weekly.

"It was just what I would expect - he knows I'm coming back and he's going keep an eye on me, but he wants to see me play in the Prem first and I think that's a good idea.

"I've spent two years away, let's see how I go in the Prem first, I'm not really thinking about England before I can get up and running for Sale so that's there's no point."

Lawes, who initially retired from Test rugby after the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-final defeat by South Africa, said his return to England was not something he expected when he departed boyhood club Northampton in the wake of lifting the domestic title the following year.

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Will we see Courtney Lawes in an England shirt again?

"Probably not, no [I didn't expect to be back]," he added.

"All options were on the table last season - potentially staying at Brive, potentially coming back or retiring. They were all on the table but you're a long time retired and I can still move really well so, why not when you've still got it in your legs?"

Watching from afar, he believes England have the talent to improve on an erratic 2025-26 campaign.

"It's obviously been pretty up and down more recently," he added. "They had an unbelievable autumn and then struggled in the Six Nations.

"It is hard to know exactly what's going on in camp, but obviously there's some issues otherwise they'd probably be playing a bit better than they are.

"With the squad they've got they should be doing quite well."