Jack Nowell, a winger for Exeter Chiefs, has stated he will not be available for the England World Cup squad.
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The 30-year-old has played in the last two World Cups and will join La Rochelle this summer. He has 46 caps to his name.
Since the end of March, Nowell has only appeared for Exeter in the Heineken Champions Cup while nursing a knee injury.
"No World Cup, I'm not participating. Nowell stated on the RugbyPass Offload podcast, "I'm just going to relax.
"I need to take care of my knee. It was difficult to decide not to try out for the World Cup, as you could imagine.
I reasoned that I probably had to make the decision for both my family and myself.
Nowell chose to leave Sandy Park after more than ten years and would first spend time in his native Cornwall before traveling to France.
His last England appearance was in a November match against South Africa, and since Eddie Jones was replaced as head coach of the team by Steve Borthwick, he has not been selected.
The World Cup in France begins on September 8, and if he moves to France after the competition, it will essentially be the end of his career for England because the current selection criteria prohibit players who play professionally abroad from being eligible for Test duty.
"Steve and I initially communicated, and he informed me that I wouldn't be participating in the Six Nations, which was entirely reasonable. New ideas, new coach, said Nowell.
I was content with that since there comes a point where everyone must decide on the team.
It was pretty cool since it was my final season with the team, so I could really concentrate on trying to do my best for the team and get us into the major games at the end of the season.
