Foden insists caps come before cash

Wed, 23 Nov 18:13:46 2011

England full-back Ben Foden insisted he is motivated by the honour of playing for his country and not the financial rewards that Test selection brings.

Leaked reports into England's failed World Cup campaign contain claims that members of the national squad were "more focused on money rather than getting the rugby right".

But Foden told Sky Sports: "For me it's all about playing for your country. There's no prouder moment for me."

He added: "As a kid growing up and watching England play and seeing the legends that have played in the shirt before. Putting on a white shirt and running out at Twickenham or to play Australia or New Zealand, that's the honour for me. Some people are going to look at things in different ways but that's just people you can't really change that."

Detailed contents from the reviews undertaken by the RFU, the Rugby Players' Association and the Aviva Premiership clubs appeared across eight pages in The Times.

The reports contain quotes from RFU elite rugby director Rob Andrew and unnamed players which paint the picture of a disunited squad, riven by a lack of trust under the leadership of a management team out of their depth.

One comment which emerged from the RPA report was that some players felt the standard of coaching and match preparation was better with their Premiership clubs. That was a damning indictment of Martin Johnson's management team, who all came in for fierce criticism apart from the scrum coach Graham Rowntree.

RPA chief executive Damian Hopley is furious the documents were leaked and Foden concurred.

But Foden, 26, stressed the key point is that the RFU take on board the player feedback as they plan for the next four years in the build-up to the 2015 World Cup on home soil.

"Those reports were done so we could communicate back to the RFU on players' opinions and thoughts," Foden said. "Hopefully it can be used positively and we'll see a few changes from it. The key part of the whole process is we learn from it and hopefully get better from the whole situation."

 

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  1. Fancy Dan, agree with your comments on Foden (not as a­ captain though) but can`t agree about Lawes and Hartly.­ People give Hartly a hard time because of his charactor­ on the field. If he was your captain you would love­ him, tough, competitive, uncompromising. The opposition­ don`t like him because he is good at his job.

    Same­ with Lawes - he got a 2 match ban for less than McCaw­ did to Parrah in the final. He just is not given the­ same ref protection.

    Ashton needs to sort himself out­ - defensively he has been shocking this season, I think­ some bench time beckons....

    From Jim, on Fri 25 Nov 16:16
  2. Foden seems on the ball, both on the pitch and off it­ ... he needs to grip his Northants mates Ashton, Lawes­ and Hartley who lack maturity but have shedfuls of­ talent but I reckon capatain responsibilities would­ rest well on his shoulders. Him or Robertshaw, who­ should have certainly have been in the squad rather­ than some of the has beens.

    From Fancy Dan, on Thu 24 Nov 16:37
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