Much fuss is being made about the 'defection' to France next season of three Wasps' players and the possibility of Saint Jonny also being a target of a euro-rich French club.

The consensus appears to be that this it not a good thing for English rugby, that taking top players away from the Premiership will dilute its appeal and that the national team will suffer from not having access to such players apart from in agreed IRB windows (thus rendering impotent the hard-won agreement with the English clubs regarding player-release).

I beg to differ.

With the exception of the French national team, I'd say that there are plenty of positives to be drawn from this development.

More at http://totalflanker.blogspot.com/