“If you produce a player you should get rewarded.” - Rugby Australia's director of rugby Scott Johnson

Rugby Australia's director of rugby Scott Johnson says it's time for World Rugby to introduce a transfer fee system to compensate clubs and countries for lost talent.

Speaking to The Australian this week, Johnson said that World Rugby were looking into sides being compensated with transfer fees and that it could also be considered by domestic unions.

“World Rugby is looking at [transfer fees] now and it’s time … even internally,” Johnson said.

“If you produce a player you should get rewarded.”

Rugby doesn't have a formalised transfer fees system that exists in sports such as football but the likes of Northampton Saints have been compensated before with Louis Picamoles moving to Montpellier as the no.8's contract had not expired before he left England.

Johnson is currently attempting to broker a deal between Reds coach Brad Thorn and pay cut rebel Izack Rodda believes unions who lose a player aged up to 24 to an overseas club should be paid a development fee.

"Even if you look at [World Rugby’s] ancestry laws …. you may have developed a kid for 10 years but because he has, say, British heritage, he just walks across. No, no, no. You should pay for their development.”

The Pacific Islanders nations regularly lose players to Super Rugby and European clubs while Australia and South Africa have mass exoduses from their Super Rugby teams on a yearly basis and would likely back the idea of a transfer fee system.