WASPS insist there will be no further exodus following Tuesday’s announcement that England trio James Haskell, Riki Flutey and Tom Palmer are all defecting to France.

Haskell and Palmer will switch to Stade Francais in the summer while Flutey has accepted a huge offer from Brive.

In each case, is it believed their committments to the England Elite squad will not be affected.

But with club captain Raf Ibanez announcing his retirement on the same day, Wasps fans were rocked by the departure of four internationals in a matter of hours.

But the English kings insist they are not selling off the crown jewels and say they would be ‘surprised’ if anyone else left the club.

Although Wasps refused to confirm Danny Cipriani has signed a new one-year deal, head coach Shaun Edwards remains ‘confident’ their marquee player will stay at Adams Park.

He said: “We half-expected those three to leave anyway so it’s not a shock to us. But if anyone else left I’d be surprised – not shocked.”

But losing Haskell, 23, Flutey, 29 and Palmer, 27 is still a big hit for the club to absorb.

Director of rugby Ian McGeechan said: “If a player wants to play for the money then that’s his decision.

“With the financial problem at the moment and the way the pound is against the Euro, the majority of the money is in France and we simply can’t compete with that, salary cap or no salary cap.

“Some of the numbers are mind-boggling and in a different ball park.”

But the Wasps boss urged fans to keep things in perspective.

He said: “Two years ago we got rid of 13 players. You didn’t know about it because we didn’t make a big thing about it.

“Players will always move on and look for a different challenge and we wish them well.

“But we’re in good shape with the other players coming on to new contracts, and we’re confident we’ll have a good core group of players to take forward into next year, with some new additions.

“We’ve got a lot of experienced players and they’re not going anywhere.”