English rugby’s failure to reward clubs developing England players could see London Wasps offload one of their brightest stars, James Haskell, in favour of a 34 year-old Frenchman.

The player Wasps are believed to be lining up as a possible replacement for Haskell is ex-French international flanker Serge Betsen. He was set to retire from Biarritz this summer and quit rugby but is now expected to accept a two-year contract with the Londoners.

It has emerged that Wasps could decide to let Haskell, one of the brightest prospects in English club rugby and considered potentially a future England captain, leave the club.

Haskell has got one more year left on his contract, but instead of taking the view that there is only one agenda, and that is keeping Haskell and building a back row around him for the future, Wasps have been forced to look at the other side of the coin.

That means potentially bringing in someone who would be available for the whole season, not just half of it which will be the case with the England players.

The extraordinary situation, similar to Newcastle putting England stars Matthew Tait and Toby Flood on the transfer list, has been caused because those clubs producing future England stars will lose out financially due to the clubs organisation’s controversial distribution of RFU monies.

It means that a club like Wasps, who could have as many as eight or ten players in the England Elite Squad from this July, is likely to lose out to the tune of upwards of half a million pounds.

The RFU, which allowed the clubs to move the goalposts and put in place the controversial agreement, has said nothing about the chaotic situation. Presumably, it is too ashamed to speak publicly about a situation in which it has been humiliated.

But whatever their embarrassment, the latest developments mean that the RFU has to get off the fence and fight for a policy they apparently espoused. If they don’t, the weak leadership and management of the game they have shown in recent months will simply be amplified.

It has also emerged that not even Leicester, traditionally one of the clubs that has developed so many England players, remain committed to the policy. They announced last week they have signed Otago Highlanders back row player and captain Craig Newby on a new 3-year deal.

I understand that Wasps feel cheated by the deal. An insider said “What it means, in effect, is that London Wasps are helping Worcester to buy a Chris Latham from Australia. That cannot be right.”

The RFU clearly have to act, almost certainly by withholding all payments until the net impact is what they intended and not how it is now being arranged to the detriment of the clubs the RFU wanted to see rewarded for their support of England.