Toulon back row bruiser and current ERC player of the year Steffon Armitage is considering exploring a way to switch his international allegiance from England to France. Armitage moved to Toulon in 2011 and has pocketed two Heineken Cup medals as well as a Top 14 championship and his performances have seen many proclaim him to be the finest back row in Europe not named Sean O'Brien.
England have a policy of not selecting players who do not play in the Premiership and despite Armitage's superlative run of form, that rule has remained. Now, according to the Telegraph, he is exploring a way of obtaining a French passport and taking advantage of an IRB loophole that says that if a player has not represented a country for 18 months and has the requisite passport for another international side, they can represent that side for the Olympic sevens and thus continue to represent them.
We look forward to the BBC meltdown when Armitage is reducing England's back row to rubble in a future Six Nations.
