Steffon Armitage says he is insulted by suggestions he or Nick Abendanon would have been a distraction if selected in England’s World Cup squad, with both France-based absentees highly critical of those players who argued otherwise.
Armitage, the Toulon back-row, and Abendanon, the Clermont Auvergne full-back, were omitted from Stuart Lancaster’s squad for England’s ill-fated campaign because the Rugby Football Union does not allow foreign-based players to be selected for international duty.
The governing body could have invoked its “exceptional circumstances” rule and picked the pair but decided against such a move and was backed by some including Tom Youngs and Tom Wood, the England players who argued that their inclusion would have been unsettling.
Abendanon, the European player of the year last season, described those views as “pathetic” and Armitage agreed. He told Rugby World: “Definitely. I know them, played against them, and to hear them say we’d be a distraction if selected was pretty insulting.
“At the end of the day all we wanted to do was make the team better and I just think it was wrong for players to say what they did. We could have learnt from each other and created more rivalry for places.
“The coach has his view in not picking me so all I could do was keep playing rugby. I hoped I might get in but it didn’t happen and I had to deal with it. Twickenham’s meant to be a fortress but it didn’t work at all, and I think everyone should be disappointed at the way things happened.”
Lancaster’s future as the head coach remains in doubt while the RFU’s five-man panel conducts a review into England’s campaign, in which they were eliminated from the World Cup at the group stage.
The RFU’s policy of not selecting players based abroad is an attempt to protect the Premiership yet tournament finalists Australia scrapped their same rule last year, allowing Drew Mitchell and Matt Giteau to return to the squad despite both playing club rugby at Toulon.
Armitage, the 2013-14 European player of the year, spent five years at London Irish before moving to Toulon in 2011. The 30-year-old, who almost signed for Bath last autumn, said he was undecided on his England future but that his love for the game has returned while in France
“It’s a tough situation. What happened with England hit me hard. There was talk I’d be involved and all of a sudden that hope was taken away. I’ve always played rugby because I love it, but that really hurt,” he said.
“I’m getting the enjoyment back now at Toulon but as far as England goes at the moment I’m undecided. Right now my focus is on Toulon. I’m contracted to them until the end of next season and I love it here.”
Abdendanon argued that increased competition in England’s squad would have aided their performance. However, the Leicester hooker Youngs argued against an RFU climbdown and the Northampton flanker Wood said it could “undermine togetherness”.
