Best of luck to the lad ... if England do not want him and he has the chance to represent the country where he is living.
It's nothing to do with England not wanting him. The rule is if you play outside of England you will not play for England unless in extreme circumstances.
He chose not to play for his country by opting to play in France. That's his decision, fair enough.
I don't understand why he would want to play for France anyway. I would never want to play for any other country but England and that would be the case if I had played for England before hand or not. If he chooses to play for France then that's up to him.
I would love to see all the French based played sue the RFU for having that policy.
Only an idiot places artificial restrictions on your own player pool
The thing is Steffon is not English, he was born in Trinidad then lived in France, then England. He started playing rugby and wanted to play at the top level and he happened to be in England at the time. He probably doesn't have a massive allegiance to England, although I'm sure he love to carry on playing for them if he could. Not sure whether he turned his back or Lancaster shut him out, probably a bit of both, but I think the rule is rubbish.
I don't think he should be allowed to play for France but I can see why he would want to.
Best of luck to the lad ... if England do not want him and he has the chance to represent the country where he is living.
It's nothing to do with England not wanting him. The rule is if you play outside of England you will not play for England unless in extreme circumstances.
He chose not to play for his country by opting to play in France. That's his decision, fair enough.
I don't understand why he would want to play for France anyway. I would never want to play for any other country but England and that would be the case if I had played for England before hand or not. If he chooses to play for France then that's up to him.
I would love to see all the French based played sue the RFU for having that policy.
Only an idiot places artificial restrictions on your own player pool
Or someone who sees that without the lure of international rugby with England many star players would be off in a flash. We can't afford to give Manu the money he would earn in France, the main thing that keeps him here is international rugby.This means that we get to watch all the best English players in a competitive league week in week out. Only an idiot would say that's a bad thing.
For H's dad & J Griffin. H you really need to consult your wife more Altrincham is was and always will be in Cheshire as my home town of Rochdale
will always be in Lancashire. There were vast objections when the concept of Greater Manchester was floated and put into reality in 1974. I along with my
niece who lives in Norfolk do not put Greater Manchester on our correspondence
with my brother,her dad and my sister her aunt, yet the letters are always delivered, thank god the post office lives in the real world. I don't know anyone who was born before 1968 refer to their home town as being in Greater Manchester. Maybe when we start sorting England out when the Scots have left that's one of the first things we can look at. Griff the only objection I have to Oldham is that we became part of their post code area when Romford nicked the RO prefix. Who the hell has heard of Romford? North of the Watford gasp.
Noddy555 wrote:For H's dad & J Griffin. H you really need to consult your wife more Altrincham is was and always will be in Cheshire as my home town of Rochdale
will always be in Lancashire. There were vast objections when the concept of Greater Manchester was floated and put into reality in 1974. I along with my
niece who lives in Norfolk do not put Greater Manchester on our correspondence
with my brother,her dad and my sister her aunt, yet the letters are always delivered, thank god the post office lives in the real world. I don't know anyone who was born before 1968 refer to their home town as being in Greater Manchester. Maybe when we start sorting England out when the Scots have left that's one of the first things we can look at. Griff the only objection I have to Oldham is that we became part of their post code area when Romford nicked the RO prefix. Who the hell has heard of Romford? North of the Watford gasp.
Hi Noddy, I doubt if your objections to reality come as a surprise to anybody.
I am neither clever enough to understand nor stupid enough to play this game
TigerLad wrote:
Or someone who sees that without the lure of international rugby with England many star players would be off in a flash. We can't afford to give Manu the money he would earn in France, the main thing that keeps him here is international rugby.This means that we get to watch all the best English players in a competitive league week in week out. Only an idiot would say that's a bad thing.
depends if you want the strongest England team possible or are simply thinking of your own club
TigerLad wrote:
Or someone who sees that without the lure of international rugby with England many star players would be off in a flash. We can't afford to give Manu the money he would earn in France, the main thing that keeps him here is international rugby.This means that we get to watch all the best English players in a competitive league week in week out. Only an idiot would say that's a bad thing.
depends if you want the strongest England team possible or are simply thinking of your own club
If your England squad is spread all over the globe, struggling to get together for anything except match days, will it be as strong as if they all played for English team with agreed release terms?
The benefits of the principle are clear (although there are also benefits to overseas experience) but there is such a thing as cutting off your nose, especially when you have the get out clause of undefined exceptional circumstances.
I am neither clever enough to understand nor stupid enough to play this game
h's dad wrote:
If your England squad is spread all over the globe, struggling to get together for anything except match days, will it be as strong as if they all played for English team with agreed release terms?
The benefits of the principle are clear (although there are also benefits to overseas experience) but there is such a thing as cutting off your nose, especially when you have the get out clause of undefined exceptional circumstances.
we're talking about France its a couple of hours away and players like Armitage already have clauses saying they have to be released for any squad meet up
h's dad wrote:
If your England squad is spread all over the globe, struggling to get together for anything except match days, will it be as strong as if they all played for English team with agreed release terms?
The benefits of the principle are clear (although there are also benefits to overseas experience) but there is such a thing as cutting off your nose, especially when you have the get out clause of undefined exceptional circumstances.
we're talking about France its a couple of hours away and players like Armitage already have clauses saying they have to be released for any squad meet up
There is still no guarantee, though, that he would be released for matches, let alone for training, meetings, etc. Nor do the foreign clubs have to stick to any kind of player welfare protocols.
By agreement with the PRL, the English based English international players have to be released and rested!
h's dad wrote:
If your England squad is spread all over the globe, struggling to get together for anything except match days, will it be as strong as if they all played for English team with agreed release terms?
The benefits of the principle are clear (although there are also benefits to overseas experience) but there is such a thing as cutting off your nose, especially when you have the get out clause of undefined exceptional circumstances.
we're talking about France its a couple of hours away and players like Armitage already have clauses saying they have to be released for any squad meet up
I thought the discussion had widened to include Trinidad & Tobago and Rochdale. I haven't seen Armitage's contract but understand there is some dispute as to how complete the release agreement is and how it compares with the availability of English based players.
I am neither clever enough to understand nor stupid enough to play this game
Steffon can't be given the position of the victim here. He knew the consequences when he signed his contract extension, and he signed anyway. If he really wanted to play for England, he would have come back. England aren't that desperate for backrowers, and Steffon isn't desperate to play for England.
And, ridiculous as it may be, if a loophole allows him to play for France, then fair enough. He's playing the game and he has found a spot of luck.
Noddy555 wrote:Griff the only objection I have to Oldham is that we became part of their post code area when Romford nicked the RO prefix. Who the hell has heard of Romford? North of the Watford gasp.
I, unfortunately, have knowledge of Romford and can tell you that your anger is misplaced - their postcodes are all RM.
For your information, Romford is like a southern version of Wigan.