How long before the whole England team is from the Southern Hemisphere?

[Rugbyflanker]

Yes I'll be quiet ;). He's a fantastic player at his peak though. How about an "English" back row of Shields,BOC,Vunipola?

[strawclearer]

Yes I'll be quiet ;). He's a fantastic player at his peak though. How about an "English" back row of Shields,BOC,Vunipola?

Yup...that would work!

[JP14]

I don't get the hype with Shields necessarily, can anyone inform me as to why England and New Zealand are having a tug of war over him

[Rugbyflanker]

Shields is a very good player,you have to be to captain a Kiwi SR side. The issue is that he could be going on tour during the SR season which I fully understand.

[Mark62]

Shields is a very good player,you have to be to captain a Kiwi SR side. The issue is that he could be going on tour during the SR season which I fully understand.

He is a very good player, but apparently not good enough for tha All Blacks, however reportedly good enough for England

[Rugbyflanker]

He's behind Squires but just because the AB don't want him it doesn't mean he isn't international quality imo

[Mark62]

He's behind Squires but just because the AB don't want him it doesn't mean he isn't international quality imo

You maybe right but to win the World Cup we will almost definitely have to beat New Zealand at some point during the competition and England are looking at picking a player they don’t deem to be good enough

[Rugbyflanker]

That's a good point but none of our back row players will be better than NZ whoever we pick,Billy arguably better than Read but there's a gnats knacker in it. It's all about building a unit that could potentially be better. In fact NZ will be better than any team in the world from 1-15 in nearly all positions but they can still be beaten ,that's the brilliant challenge that awaits everyone.

[TigerCam]

For me I, and I have done for decades, find that the whole international player registration a fiasco? IMO only English born and bred should be allowed to turn out for England in any sport. The fact that someone can have a 5th past-generation granny that was English (and was she really?) or living here for 5 years or whatever, to qualify really is IMO taking the p**s!

I read today, following Leinster's demolition of the Scarlets, that Sexton was in great praise for the young full-bloodied Irish players coming through the Leinster ranks that are, or will be, playing for Ireland - home grown talent in abundance? I really don't care how good English players are as you can only pick the best from what you have got. If they are not good enough then the RFU, clubs and schools etc should have a mechanism in place to ensure that young talent is nurtured and developed into those players to produce international quality. Investment does not come cheap and the demands from supporters for their club to succeed is massive! But to see an Aussie (and no disrespect to him personally) being lined up for a tour of SA instead of taking English man sucks!! I stopped going to Twickers etc many years ago, mainly due to the exorbitant cost of tickets, "hoo-ray henrys' etc", but to watch an English team made up of so-called 'qualified players' in lieu of young English players is IMO just not right.

[Hot_Charlie]

I don't like flags of convenience players, never have. However as other have said both parents are English and so he is more English than the Vunipolas,

I dare you to say that to their faces. A foreign name and "foreign" parents they may have, but British bred and very much English they are.

[johnthegriff]

If some one is qualified to play for England by heritage or residency that is fine by me but I think they have to earn the right by playing in the Premiership. How can we say to an Englishman plying his trade in France (and I agree with that rule) you cannot play for your country yet select a player who has never even graced an English pitch, you are in.
Only recently England selected Burgess for the World Cup when he had not earned the right on the pitch despite several games trying to find him a position. Team spirit was destroyed and our country suffered an early exit from their own World Cup

[Chobbsy]

I suspect he only wants to play for England because of the money involved (like a few others) and he is in no way English IMO. I'm finding it harder to associate with this England team due to the ever increasing lack of English people involved, nothing really that can be done about it but I think it's pretty sad and I think the associated lack of passion is telling.

So if he scores the winning try in next Year's world cup final, you won't be cheering him like the rest of us?

[jgriffin]

I suspect he only wants to play for England because of the money involved (like a few others) and he is in no way English IMO. I'm finding it harder to associate with this England team due to the ever increasing lack of English people involved, nothing really that can be done about it but I think it's pretty sad and I think the associated lack of passion is telling.

So if he scores the winning try in next Year's world cup final, you won't be cheering him like the rest of us?

I don't agree that nothing can be done about it. However the talent spotting in this country is biased and partial (despite great community work by AP clubs), the main competition is a true one and not a vehicle for winning in Europe, the game is a poor relation of football etc (almost as bad as Aus with their RL, Aus rules etc), and there is neither the investment nor the culture that some other nations have developed.
It depends what you want - but whether club or country, there are improvements long overdue in development.

[ghdav27]

I suspect he only wants to play for England because of the money involved (like a few others) and he is in no way English IMO. I'm finding it harder to associate with this England team due to the ever increasing lack of English people involved, nothing really that can be done about it but I think it's pretty sad and I think the associated lack of passion is telling.

So if he scores the winning try in next Year's world cup final, you won't be cheering him like the rest of us?

Genuinely I'd rather go out in the group stages as England than win/get to the final playing some sort of New Zealand B team. I accept most people will think that is ridiculous.

[Rugbyflanker]

Hartley out of SA tour with concussion. Hope he gets better soon! So Farrell will travel then as captain,look forward to more F and F! :(