Gustard urges RFU to ditch overseas player ban
and Kieran Brookes has done really well since he has been with Toulon and now moves to Perpignan.
“I think it is beneficial. You are playing against people that are different, so you have to learn different things. There are a lot more foreigners so you are playing against more people of Pacific origin so there is more of challenge around that in terms of breaking teams down.
“And you've got big internationals. (Sam) Whitelock is playing at Pau, you've got (Siya) Kolisi and now (Owen) Farrell at Racing. The challenges get bigger all the time, I think.”
Willis, 27, signed a deal with Toulouse that runs until 2026. Initially, he was allowed to play for England under the exceptional circumstances ruling after he found himself without a job after Wasps' demise. But since the start of this year he has been frozen out and unable to add to his tally of 14 caps.
“I think he would get in the England team at the moment, for sure, and that's not disrespecting the team he (Steve Borthwick) has got. He's a different style of player.”
Gustard has been on the outside looking in at English rugby since leaving Harlequins in January 2021, a short spell in Treviso following by his current role as defence coach at Stade Francais.
The Paris outfit finished the regular Top 14 season in second place on the back of having the best defence in the league, and went straight into the play-off semi-finals along with table-topping Toulouse, before Bordeaux-Begles ended their title dreams.
Now that the Premiership has been cut to 10 clubs, Gustard would like to see the side that tops the Premiership after 18 rounds go straight into the final, as was the case in the early days of the play-offs.
“To have fewer teams but maintain the same format doesn't seem right. Take away Newcastle, there's nine teams there, so almost 45 per cent have an opportunity to get in the play-offs,” he said.
“For me, it is not fair on Northampton, say, who were clearly the best team last year in terms of consistency and performance and points scored – and their defence tightened up a lot and their set-piece was better – that they could have ended up getting beaten in the playoffs by a team that only won 50 per cent of their games.
“I know that is the rules. But what I would like to see is first goes straight through to the final and second plays third and they get rid of the other (semi-final) game. In the Top 14, the top two teams get a pass straight through to the semi-final.
“In a 10-team competition it is a fairer way, it puts more burden on teams to get into that top three, it puts them under more pressure and get results and get things done rather than think we can almost make fourth in the last two or three games of the season.”
