Thursday 16 October 2014 21:39, UK
Bath are expected to end their interest in signing Steffon Armitage after he was named in Toulon’s squad for Sunday's European Champions Cup fixture against the Scarlets.
The flanker had been a target for Bath coach Mike Ford after the west country club suffered a succession of injuries to their back-row, with Francois Louw, Carl Fearns, Matt Garvey and Alafoti Fa'osiliva all sidelined.
It looks like he will play for Toulon against the Scarlets in the European Rugby Champions Cup, if that happens then he won’t be able to play for us in Europe and I would be stupid to sign him.
A return to the Aviva Premiership would also have enabled Armitage to challenge for a place in England’s World Cup plans, with Stuart Lancaster currently able to select overseas-based players only in 'exceptional circumstances'.
But Ford told Sky Sports News HQ on Tuesday that the deal was highly unlikely to happen, and that he would be “stupid” to pursue Armitage if he was cup-tied for European competition.
And reigning champions Toulon have now confirmed that last season’s European Player of the Year will be in their 24-man party for the weekend’s clash with the Scarlets.
Toulon head coach Bernard Laporte said on Thursday he would consider allowing Armitage to leave on a short-term basis if he is certain to add to his five caps for England.
"Steffon will not be selected (by England) because he does not play in England," he said. "However, there may be an exception in June before the World Cup, as there was for Jonny Wilkinson. If they ever needed Steffon at that time, they could use this option.
"Anyway, Steffon has signed for another three years with Toulon so he could hardly go.
"But I was clear with Steffon and said, 'If you want to play in the World Cup and if the condition is that you must play in England, I am ready, along with the president, to release you for six months'.
"But he must be guaranteed to play at the World Cup. And there is none (guarantee)."
Earlier this week, the Bath boss insisted that reports of an imminent deal for Armitage under the RFU’s injury dispensation rules were wide of the mark.
"We have not signed him, we have tried to as we have got the ability through our injury dispensation that if a player gets injured we can go and replace him like for like," Ford told Sky Sports News HQ.
"Our back row at the moment is depleted so we have been looking around for a while for players. Our owner thought of Steffon and thought of England as well.
“I am not sure what the stumbling block was, enviably it is about finances and we have just not been able to cross the line. It is unfortunate; we were so close to signing a great player who could have helped club and country.
“We have tried our best and he would have been a fantastic signing for me. He is a fantastic player and he would have fitted in with the style of rugby we play and it would have been good for England as well.
Our back row at the moment is depleted so we have been looking around for a while for players. Our owner thought of Steffon and thought of England as well.
“It looks like he will play for Toulon against the Scarlets in the European Rugby Champions Cup, if that happens then he won’t be able to play for us in Europe and I would be stupid to sign him.”
Watch Toulon take on Scarlets in the European Champions Cup live on Sky Sports 2, coverage starts at 3pm following the clash between Ospreys and Benetton Treviso.
