Legend thinks England is ‘obviously not’ the pinnacle for players anymore :

Ex-England captain Will Carling has called on the Rugby Football Union (RFU) to make playing for the Red Rose the ‘pinnacle’ again ahead of Owen Farrell’s impending departure.

Farrell has been linked with a move to Racing 92 ahead of next season, and while the club has denied the reports, the rumours still linger.

The fly-half announced that he would be taking a break from international rugby in 2024, and if he is to move to France, he will become ineligible to represent England despite playing over 100 Test matches for the side.

‘Your country needs to still be the pinnacle’

Henry Arundell is also ineligible for England after he joined Racing 92 following London Irish’s collapse, while there are several players who represented the Red Rose at the World Cup plying their trade in France and beyond who are in the same boat.

This has led Carling to believe that playing for England is no longer the pinnacle for players, something he feels needs to change.

“Playing for your country needs to still be the pinnacle,” Carling told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“It needs to be something that players love doing, let’s be honest – that’s obviously not the case at the moment.”

Carling played 72 Test matches for England between 1988 and 1997, skippering his country on 59 occasions.

The former centre added that Farrell has served his country well, and if he decided to end his career in France, he would respect it. However, he is still concerned about younger players like Arundell, Joe Marchant and Jack Willis effectively putting their international careers on hold.

“The lure of playing England for me was incredible, so you’ve got to ask some very serious questions, and I think people in the right positions need to ask, ‘Why are people walking away from playing for their country?’” he said.

“There’s a guy [Farrell] who has given incredible service to England – and to Saracens – and if that’s his choice, then you respect it hugely.

“It’s the youngsters that worry me. Owen’s had a great, great career, so if that’s how he wants to end it, then I think we all respect that.

“It’s some of the others who are going – who have careers ahead of them – that worry me.”

Premiership needs to improve

Carling has called on administrators in England to improve the Premiership and make it into a competition that attracts the best talent in the world again.

“We should be having a game here that is attracting the best talent – English and foreign – and I think that, therefore, we need to look at the running of the game,” he said.

“Let’s be honest – it hasn’t been good for a long, long period of time.

“It’s allowed the game to fall into the situation which it is now. We need to turn our mindset around and build a game which inspires youngsters.”

READ MORE: Andy Farrell addresses selecting son Owen for British and Irish Lions and French rumours