Three players who would be important additions to their sides for the World Cup

Steffon Armitage

Talks have been ongoing for months but at this stage Armitage will not be playing at the World Cup. It seemed that he would earn a recall after he was in talks with Bath in October over a move to the Premiership, however talks broke down and he stayed with Toulon. Armitage would be a huge addition to the England squad with the 2014 European player of the year in the form of his life. Either England change their rules on picking home based players or Armitage secures a move to the Premiership for next season. If either of these things are to occur, Stuart Lancaster may feel that Armitage will not have enough time to adapt to the England squad having not played for England since 2009, and might leave him out regardless.

Ben Mowen

A strange decision to see the captain of the Wallabies move to Montpellier a year before the World Cup and rule himself out of the tournament. Mowen opted for the move to France to spend more time with his family and after only making his Wallabies debut at 28 he effectively ended his international career a year later at the age of 29. With Mowen able to play at blindside flanker and number 8 his versatility will be missed. The new Australia coach Michael Cheika has said that he will only pick home based players for the World Cup and would have picked Mowen in the squad for certain if he was playing his club Rugby in the Southern Hemisphere.

Jaque Fourie

Unlike the other two players, Jaque Fourie has a choice in playing for his country and is not looking to be picked for South Africa after he announced his retirement from International Rugby last November. It was a strange decision from Fourie, who says he is now concentrating on his club Rugby in Japan with the Kobelco Steelers. With Jean De Villiers now doubtful for the World Cup with a knee injury, Springboxs fans are now calling for the return of Fourie to test Rugby. Over the next few months we may seeHeyneke Meyer trying to convince Fourie to return to the Springboxs set up with Francois Steyn another player he will look to get in contact with and have both them in his squad for the World Cup in September.