Rob Andrew, England's elite rugby director, has warned players joining French clubs they are putting their international careers at risk.

However, the former England outside-half - who spent a year playing for Toulouse after the 1991 World Cup - stopped short of saying only those players appearing in the English Premiership would be considered for England duty.

This week it was announced that Wasps duo James Haskell and Tom Palmer, both England forwards, would be joining Stade Francais at the end of the season while their club colleague Riki Flutey, the New Zealand born England centre, would be crossing the Channel to play for Brive.

It has been reported the trio can all expect a hefty increase in their salaries as a result of both an attractive exchange rate and the fact that, unlike their counterparts in the Premiership, clubs in France's Top 14 do not operate under a salary cap.

However, should more players follow the Wasps trio's example, the carefully negotiated elite player deal between England's governing Rugby Football Union (RFU) and the 12 Premiership clubs could become irrelevant.

The agreement gives England manager Martin Johnson additional access to his players in the lead up to Tests beyond that stipulated by regulations laid down by the International Rugby Board (IRB) and before the start of the season.

In return for the loss of their players, the clubs receive financial compensation. However, French clubs are not a party to the agreement.

Haskell has insisted his contract with Stade contains a clause guaranteeing his availability for all England training sessions, even those that fall outside the IRB 'window'.

But the RFU have yet to discover if the precise wording of Haskell's contract will, as the flanker believes, allow him to turn up when called upon by Johnson, England's 2003 World Cup winning captain.

In the meantime Andrew warned of dire consequences for players who did not come to every England training session.

"The key thing is the integrity of the England team and Martin's ability to have the players when he wants them for preparation, which is clearly a massive part of the EPS (elite player squad) agreement," Andrew told reporters on Thursday.

"These players (who are moving abroad) will need to be available when Martin wants them available because, by definition, if they are not that will compromise their own situation.

"What we effectively did with the EPS agreement was buy more preparation time. Players would have to make sure they have that covered in their individual contracts.

"It is not just training times but the medical profiling which we do with every player each week, the August training camp, the fact the players have to be guaranteed a rest one week in five and there is a limit on the number of games they can play in a season."

Johnson selected Brive-based stand-off Andy Goode, his former Leicester team-mate, for England's first two games of the ongoing Six Nations tournament after watching tapes of the stand-off in action.

Former lock Johnson, who told the Wasps trio to make sure an England release clause was included in their French contracts, said: "My advice to the players usually is to do what is best for your rugby career.

"They know the implications of what might happen to their form and their chances of playing for England," he added.

England, who beat Italy and then lost to Wales, continue their Six Nations campaign away to table-toppers Ireland in Dublin on February 28.

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