Pellegrini shows the depth of talent

Pat Pellegrini’s beautifully taken chip-and-chase try for Tonga against South Africa in last weekend’s World Cup clash in Marseille was a great showcase not just for the Coventry fly-half, but also for the English Championship.

Pellegrini, a young Aussie with a Tongan parent who is one of the few non-English born members of the Coventry squad, showed that where aspiration is matched by opportunity there are some players who can go up the gears and not just survive at international level, but thrive.

Pellegrini has not been alone as a second-tier club player who has made his mark at this World Cup. Half the Portugal side which has provided such entertainment is home based, including twinkle-toed full-back Nuno Guedes from CDUP (Club Do Universitario Porto), hard-tackling centre and captain Tomas Appleton (CDUL), and other Lisbon based players like No.8 Rafael Simoes (CDUL), flanker Joao Granate (Direito), and lock Martim Bello (Cascais).

These are players playing Championship standard rugby who have risen to the occasion, and it makes a nonsense of the RFU kow-towing to Premiership demands that only those playing for their clubs can play for England.

If Premiership clubs do their talent spotting and player development to a high standard then, inevitably, the vast majority of England players will come from the top league.

However, the protectionist RFU ruling that prohibits an outstanding Championship talent from being selected for an England squad, or international team, by Steve Borthwick, or any England coach, should be scrapped. There should also be no compulsory measure that a player’s England selection depends on them moving immediately to a Premiership club.

The England team is not owned by the Premiership – it belongs to English rugby as a whole, not just 10 clubs.