Injuries have wrecked much of Farrell's time in union

The Rugby Football Union admits it has abandoned its policy of helping to fund cross-code transfers from rugby league.

Jason Robinson's hugely successful move helped England win the 2003 World Cup, and saw the RFU involved in bringing other big-name league players to union.

But the likes of Andy Farrell, Henry Paul and Chev Walker failed to match Robinson's impact.

"We've made it very clear our policy is not to recruit league players," said RFU director of elite rugby Rob Andrew.

"That's because of the structure in terms of how we're funding the clubs and the top end of the game."

League players are still moving to union, with Bradford Bulls centre Shontayne Hape recently moving to Bath and promising Leeds back Danny Williams switching to Newcastle Falcons.

But the union clubs involved in those deals have had to find the finances without assistance from the RFU.

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"But if there was a player like that then it's very likely that he would not already have been signed by a Gloucester or Bath.

"That's because these players are being shifted around the market-place the whole time."

Robinson is equally feted in both codes, but his success after switching to union - which saw him captain England, lead Sale to the Premiership title as well as make the 2001 and 2005 Lions tours - was not easy for other former league stars to replicate.

Paul, who reverted to league with Harlequins but will return to union with Division One Leeds shortly, and Farrell both played for England, but never came close to matching Robinson's achievements.

Walker also struggled to establish himself in union at Bath before returning to league with Hull KR.

There will always be foreign players and coaches and we don't have an issue with that - if they're of high quality RFU director of rugby Rob Andrew

Meanwhile, the RFU says financial incentives to encourage clubs to field England-qualified players will help improve the national team's prospects.

The RFU wants to eschew the example of football's Premier League, in which the number of overseas players is blamed for the failure of the national team.

"If enough players aren't coming through that will affect England," said Andrew.

"There's no doubt about that and we're seeing it happen in football."

Andrew said he was happy for clubs to continue to sign the star names of world rugby, but he wanted them to think twice about turning to journeyman players on short-term contracts.

"There will always be foreign players and coaches and we don't have an issue with that - if they're of high quality," he said.

"What we do have an issue with is the run-of-the-mill foreign player who is standing in the way of the development of some very good English youngsters.

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Approximately 35% of the players in the Guinness Premiership are not qualified to play for England, a far lower percentage than in its football equivalent.

As part of the agreement between the clubs and the RFU, which came into force on 1 July, money will be on offer for clubs which develop and select England-qualified talent.

Andrew highlighted Leicester and Wasps - the two most successful English clubs in the professional era - as the example for the rest of the league to follow.

"In time the scheme will have the desired effect because you will have chief executives looking at the figures and asking why aren't their academies producing good-quality players?" he said.

"Clubs such as Wasps and Leicester have seen the benefits of relying on English-qualified players, while Gloucester and Harlequins are moving in that direction."