Exceptional Circumstances

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

So what actually qualifies as an exceptional circumstance when it comes to selecting players in foreign leagues? Because if by far the best Prem team being relegated for cheating and a global pandemic occurring in the same season doesn't qualify then what does?

 

[Reiser99]

At this point I think every player in the English leagues is indisposed so that the RFU cannot field a full team, then they may look abroad.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Who is this in relation to? Kruis?

If we lost all of Itoje, Lawes, Launchbury, Ewells, Isiekwe then I guess they might look him up.

Exceptional circumstances should he a long list of injuries not choosing to move abroad when there was plenty of opportunity not to.

 

[TRF_heineken]

So what actually qualifies as an exceptional circumstance when it comes to selecting players in foreign leagues? Because if by far the best Prem team being relegated for cheating and a global pandemic occurring in the same season doesn't qualify then what does?

The pandemic I can understand, but not the cheating. One thing was completely avoidable and controllable, the other one wasn't/isn't. Can't see why any team, no matter where in the world they are using their delegation because of their own wrongdoing, as a matter of exceptional circumstances...

 

[Every Time Ref]

The pandemic I can understand, but not the cheating. One thing was completely avoidable and controllable, the other one wasn't/isn't. Can't see why any team, no matter where in the world they are using their delegation because of their own wrongdoing, as a matter of exceptional circumstances...

I can see your point in a way, but Sarries are not controlled by the RFU. Someone may correct me on this, but to my knowledge the RFU had no power to trigger an investigation of Saracens if they had wished to - here in England the international game and the club game are run by separate organisations whose interests are not necessarily the same and who often don't see eye to eye.

If the Saracens situation did lead to a mass exodus of England players oversees, the RFU would justifiably see themselves as victims of Saracens cheating, and Premier Rugby's failure to keep a lid on it before it got this serious.

 

[TRF_heineken]

I can see your point in a way, but Sarries are not controlled by the RFU. Someone may correct me on this, but to my knowledge the RFU had no power to trigger an investigation of Saracens if they had wished to - here in England the international game and the club game are run by separate organisations whose interests are not necessarily the same and who often don't see eye to eye.

If the Saracens situation did lead to a mass exodus of England players oversees, the RFU would justifiably see themselves as victims of Saracens cheating, and Premier Rugby's failure to keep a lid on it before it got this serious.

I think that's sugarcoating the issue innit? Regardless of whether Saracens are being controlled by the RFU or not, the clubs are being governed by a local controlling body, who is their voice on the WR panel for that country, and that controlling body has certain rules and regulations to which a club/union must comply with.

But, to hold the RFU accountable for delegation and losing of players when the RFU wasn't involved with their cheating is a bit of stretch. The pandemic is a world wide phenomenon and all the clubs and unions have been hit by it.

Cheating... Just applicable to Saracens. No one else. Therefor not an exceptional circumstance.

 

[Every Time Ref]

I'm not sugarcoating anything, I think you're misunderstanding my intent. It's a factual statement, not a defence.

Anyway, bottom line is that this is the RFU's own rule so they can do as they damn well please! All it comes down to is do they think they themselves will benefit more than they lose by invoking exceptional circumstances? On that basis my feeling is they won't, they have shown historically that they are very keen not to set a precedent. So far, "exceptional circumstances" is purely theoretical and has probably been discussed more in forums and comments sections than in RFU meetings.

I've always agreed with the RFU before, if we lose a whole bunch of key players ... I don't know. Come back to me when we know specifics...