Wasps director of rugby Ian McGeechan took a swipe at players who put money ahead of ambition today after losing three stars to French clubs.

Forwards James Haskell and Tom Palmer have quit the Premiership champions to join Stade Francais while centre Riki Flutey is moving to Brive.

The triple raid on Wasps is the clearest sign yet of the shift in the financial clout of rugby union's club game from England to France.
Haskell, 23, has tripled his Ł100,000-a-year deal with Wasps but — along with fellow England players Palmer and Flutey, both 29 — has put his international future under threat.

French clubs operate outside the new, eight-year agreement thrashed out by the English professional clubs and the Rugby Football Union to ensure Martin Johnson gets more time with the England squad. It means players at French clubs won't necessarily be available for England get-togethers outside the Test windows.

McGeechan, who helped transform Haskell into a Test player after coming through the club's academy system, said: “If someone wants to play for the money then that's his decision.

“The Premiership is the best club league in the world and it develops players and the ethos of this club will not change because we want our guys to play at the highest level.

“The majority of players see the bigger picture and I hope that players will join this club because of our track record of producing internationals.

“We have a very good relationship with the England management but the financial problem revolves around a lot of money being elsewhere and you can't do anything about.

“It's a big problem that the RFU and English rugby is now facing with the euro and pound being as it is, the majority of money is now in France. We simply can't compete with France and some of the numbers are mind boggling.

“The concern must be is that we will end up with players with an ambition to play for England not being part of the Premiership and long term that's not a good thing for English rugby.”

Wasps have held onto outside-half Danny Cipriani for the moment although he has only agreed a new one-year deal. The departure of the three England players, however, has ensured the French player drain will be top of the RFU's agenda for next week's management board meeting.

Martyn Thomas, the RFU chairman, today revealed he is to hold talks with boss Johnson and Rob Andrew, the elite rugby director, to assess the impact on England.

The RFU are also mulling over plans to set up an emergency fund to block the French exodus and sources have indicacted that cash could be available to revisit the system that brought rugby league stars Jason Robinson and Andy Farrell into the union game.

For those deals, the RFU funded half the players' salaries with Sale and Saracens, respectively.
It is one of the few viable options to to combat what players' union chief Damian Hopley has described as a “pretty grim” moment for English clubs.

Hopley, the Professional Rugby Players' Association chief executive, said: “We want the best English players in the Premiership but with exchange rates helping the euro and no salary cap, the French have a real advantage.

“It's a pretty grim time with the French clubs able to pay as much as they want for a player.”
French clubs are reportedly offering players Ł400,000-a-year deals which blow the Premiership clubs out of the water. Top-earning England-based players earn half that.

The transformation of French rugby has followed the signing of a bumper new TV deal and the arrival of wealthy benefactors.

Max Gauzzini, owner of Stade, made his fortune from radio stations in Paris and his showmanship skills have attracted crowds of up to 80,000 to watch his team.

Another Paris club, Racing, is emerging as a rival to Stade thanks to the backing of Jacky Lorenzetti, owner of France's biggest estate agency group.

Meanwhile, long-time importer of English talent, Brive, continue to benefit from the millions provided by club president and scrap metal tycoon Daniel Derichebourg, rated the country's fifth-richest man.