McGeechan concerned by player departures

Wasps director of rugby Ian McGeechan has called for urgent action to be taken to halt the exodus of England's leading players to cash-rich French clubs.

Wasps on Tuesday confirmed they had lost James Haskell and Tom Palmer to Stade Francais next season, while Riki Flutey will join Brive in the summer. The triple transfer raid is the clearest sign yet that the balance of power in northern-hemisphere rugby has shifted, with English clubs now unable to compete with their French rivals.

"As a business, we would like to get fair recompense for producing international players," said McGeechan.

"I think you need that commitment both ways. Clubs should be producing players for England - and if you do that then you get a good structure under the international programme.

"The problem is, at the moment there is a lot of money elsewhere - and you can't do anything about it. The French clubs have a lot of money, and we simply can't compete - salary cap or no salary cap. It is pretty mind-boggling, some of the numbers."

French clubs are not bound by a salary cap, while the current strength of the euro has made the Top 14 an even more attractive option. Jonny Wilkinson has been linked with a move to promotion candidates Racing Metro Paris.

The Rugby Football Union's £4.6million payments are split among all the Premiership clubs - a process known as revenue smoothing - and Wasps believe that costs them £750,000 a year.