Tuesday 1 November 2016 09:27, UK
Eddie Jones has warned George Ford his England career will be cut short if he opts for a move to France with Toulon.
Toulon owner Mourad Boudjellal is keen to sign the Bath and England fly-half in a deal that would reunite him with father Mike, who is now head coach of the Top 14 side.
Jones has endorsed England's policy of selecting home-based players even though losing Ford would be a major blow in the run-up to the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
Ford has 18 months remaining on his deal with Bath but his long-term club future is uncertain and Jones said from England's training camp in Portugal: "I need to talk to George about it.
"Obviously we don't want to lose George, but ultimately he's got to make a decision about whether he wants to play for England. He's responsible for his own decision. We want him to play for England. He knows that we want him to play for England, but he's got to want to play for England.
"It's an easy choice - you either sign for an English club or you sign for a French club. If you sign for a French club, you don't play for England.
"I am not worried about it. I want players who want to play for England and to play for England, you've got to play for an English club.
"Let's get one thing straight here, we want to be the No 1 team in the world. To be the No 1 team in the world we need players who absolutely desire to play for England. So there's no choice here.
"The choice is if you want to play for England or not. If you want to play for England you play for an English club. There's no more discussion about this.
"The policy we have protects English rugby for the long-term. You've only got to look at what's happened in France where you've allowed foreign players to escalate to over 50-60 per cent and you have massive problems for the national game.
"You take some short-term pain for the long-term gain. And this is not an Englishman talking. This is a guy who is coaching England. I think for the long-term future of the game we need to look after the Premiership."
