Tom Youngs speaks out against Steffon Armitage and Nick Abendanon being picked for England

Tom Youngs became the first England player to voice his disquiet at the prospect of overseas-based players being parachuted into Stuart Lancaster’s World Cup training squad.

The increasingly strong possibility of England invoking the “exceptional circumstances” clause to select Steffon Armitage, the Toulon flanker, and Nick Abendanon, the Clermont full back, brought an even more strident response from Conor O’Shea, the Harlequins director of rugby, who said that it would be “the worst thing that has happened to English rugby”.

As The Daily Telegraph revealed, England are giving serious …