Henry Slade admits new competition R360 ‘sounds exciting’ but says he still has the ‘fire’ to pursue his ambitions for club and country.
On Tuesday, the ruling coalition of eight Tier 1 nations, including England, Ireland and Scotland, issued a joint statement warning that any player joining the Rebels tour would lose international selection.
R360 is a new franchise league led by 2003 World Cup winner Mike Tindall of England, comprising 12 teams based in major cities around the world.
Slade, who holds 73 Test caps for England, was one of the high-profile names linked to the new competition.
“No one has ever heard too much about it,” he said. “But as a premise, I think a rugby match would be interesting.
“I think people are always trying to find ways to get more people into sports and get more and more fans involved, and I think maybe that’s the way to do that.
“I think, especially if you’re a young player, you probably haven’t had the chance to achieve what you want to achieve yet (so being ineligible for international selection might be a hindrance).
“But that fire doesn’t go away with age. I can’t speak for everyone. Everyone is different. We’ll see. The desire to play for your country will never leave you.”
Slade is one of the famous companies connected to R360.
“Obviously a rugby player’s career is short so you have to think about your family and your finances,” the 32-year-old said.
“But playing for England is just unbelievable.”
The Exeter Chiefs center missed out on selection for the Lions last summer but was part of the England tour of Argentina in which the Roses won both matches.
Slade is hoping to return in an England shirt for the Autumn Nations Series, starting with the first match against Australia at Twickenham on November 1.
“We have so much strength and depth,” Slade said. “Obviously the Lions boys were away in the summer so they did well in Australia.
“But I think the rest of us who went to Argentina showed our true character to win there.”
Slade still has aspirations of playing for England at the World Cup in two years’ time.
“I think the team is in a really good position and hopefully we can get started. There are so many good players across the pitch but also in the middle.”
“There are a lot of options, so we just have to keep trucking, keep putting our hands up and going as hard as we can, and who knows?”
Slade will also continue to look to justify his place in the team as we head towards the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
The prospect of making his third World Cup squad after missing out in 2023 is also an added motivation for the centre, but he admitted “there’s a lot of work to be done in rugby until then”.
Henry Slade spoke to Sky Sports as part of the Tackle Diabetes campaign to raise awareness of Type 1 diabetes, tackle misconceptions and stigma and highlight the importance of early detection.
