Stomach bug: James Haskell
Stade Français owner Max Guazzini has appealed for the Six Nations committee to take action and ensured that James Haskell's absence from training in Paris this week is independently verified.
England remain unmoved in their stance that Haskell will not be returning to play for Stade Français this weekend, despite strong threats being made by the Top 14 club.
But the club-versus-country saga took an ironic twist when it emerged that Haskell sat out training on Thursday after becoming the latest member of the England squad to be hit by a stomach bug.
England Team Manager Martin Johnson refuted suggestions of a conveniently-timed illness.
"I spoke to the doctor and he said they were symptoms that could not be faked," Johnson explained.
Whether Haskell is fit to play for Stade Français against Toulouse this weekend or not, the row is developing into a point of principal for the club's owner Max Guazzini.
International Rugby Board regulations give clubs first call on players in a non-international week and there is nothing in Haskell's Stade contract to override that.
Guazzini is alert to the fact that the Rugby Football Union pay the Guinness Premiership clubs millions of pounds for additional access to their players - but the French clubs get nothing.
"In my view it is blackmail," Guazzini told BBC Sport.
"I am very sorry it has come to this. The RFU is keeping him prisoner. Frankly, I find their attitude lacks respect.
"It is immoral. It is not my fault England lost to Ireland at Twickenham."
England's elite rugby director Rob Andrew refused to back down yesterday but also sought to remove the RFU from the argument, shifting the spotlight directly onto Haskell.
Andrew argued that England's decision was based on guarantees made by Haskell that he has a separate agreement in place with Stade Français covering his release.
"We have been given assurances by James and his advisors that he has an agreement with Stade that he can fulfil the release periods for England training," said Andrew.
"The position is between the player and the club. There is no issue here between the RFU and Stade Français."
England's position is that players based in France would only be considered for national selection if they could guarantee being available whenever called upon by Johnson.
Andrew stressed the onus is on the player - and not the RFU - to ensure he is available for England duty.
The crux of the Haskell case appears to be whether he negotiated that flexibility with Stade Français, and with enough clarity to include fallow weeks in the Six Nations.
England have been led to believe that he did. If not, Haskell would not have been selected for the Six Nations.
"We set out very clearly what the ground rules were for the guys involved," Andrew added.
"We asked for players to give us undertakings from their advisors, their agents or their lawyers that they have agreed with their clubs what we effectively require.
"We can only go on an undertaking from the lawyer - which we have from James' lawyer - that he has the release periods that we require in his agreement with his club."
But Guazzini clearly believes otherwise. He has appealed for the Six Nations committee to take action and ensured that Haskell's absence from training in Paris this week is independently verified.
"The Rugby Football Union has signed agreements with English clubs to pay for access to English internationals outside of the windows provided by the IRB," Stade said in a strongly-worded statement.
"This is not the case for French clubs who should not, therefore, finance the preparation of the England team."
Comments
Be the first to comment on this story..