What are people buying?

[Shahbahraz]

As long as they don't come back as Queenslanders...

Personally, I'm a bit worried about the game today, as France look like they have the potential to run in a dozen tries, we're still mucking about with yet another pack combination, and the Scottish backs have been rearranged so many times it feels like the shell game.

The England/Ireland game should be a cracker too.

[FreddBloggs]

Unlike Ireland who for this weekends game are in danger of naming a couple of Irish born men in their team, and England nearly have some English born as well.

So your definition of "nearly" is a mere 22 of the 25-man squad being English-born - actually the most home-grown of all the current Six Nation squads? (The three "overseas" players, all of whose parents moved to the UK when the players themselves were children, are the Vunipola brothers, who both went to school in Wales, and Sam Underhill - from that bastion of rugby union, Dayton, Ohio - who went to school in Gloucester.)

That of course ignores the reason so many english born are in the team, like tuilangi, heinz, cokanasigna not being available. I understand italy doing it to raise there game, but it has gotten ridiculous when france do it, england do it, ausyralia do it and new zealand have always done it.

[Etranger]

As long as they don't come back as Queenslanders...

The England/Ireland game should be a cracker too.

Two qualify for England by parentage (& Iceland!)...

The Australia - Argentina game is quite fun, if not up to last week's standards.

[ochoin]

, ausyralia do it and new zealand have always done it.

You're probably talking about islanders - Fijians, Tongans, Samoans?

Really, it's an economic thing. These guys (& their families) move to NZ & OZ for opportunities their wonderful but isolated homes don't offer. Rugby is one of them. I don't see it as any deliberate twisting of the rules but of genuine immigrants who are, not surprisingly, good at the game & want to play at the highest levels. Both Antipodean nations are essentially migrant-countries & national porting teams are stuffed with people born elsewhere....as are the countries in general.

Sport provides opportunities for those not so well educated & whose culture doesn't necessarily value 'book-learning'. Our indigenous boys & girls are often the same.

Charlie Cameron (ET will know whom I'm talking about) was a lovely boy who pretty well hated school but luckily found his niche in professional sport.

donald

[Essex Boy]

What is this ruggerby of which you talk?

[Shahbahraz]

Apparently a game for thigs played by gentlemen*

*may not apply in the professional era.

[RMD]

Someone wake me up when they've finished.

[goat major]

Donated by the lovely Mr EB. I take back everything I’ve ever said about him and everything I am going to say in future about him. He’s a jolly splendid chap

[BaronVonWreckedoften]

Donald - a very good point: Australia and New Zealand are countries populated overwhelmingly by people who, at some point in their family tree, were British and Irish ex-pats, so some sort of residency rules have to apply. The embryonic Ireland cricket team of the 1990s contained more Aussies than all the other nationalities - including Irish - put together, but hey! it got them up and running; the England rugby team in that decade contained several "not-quite-good-enough" Kiwis (shame that Johan Lomu wasn't one of them!). Japanese rugby has evolved largely because of non-Japanese folk qualifying for them.

A friend of mine did once joke that a future rugby world cup will be played for by 13 teams of ex-pat New Zealanders and Saffers, two teams from South Africa and France with no white players, and an All Blacks side composed entirely of South Sea Islanders (who will probably win it).

[Essex Boy]

You are very welcome.

E