Embracing the rainbow nation

This article paraphrases or plagiarises, whatever your opinion, an article by Sarah Mockford, entitled England’s Double Standards, which appeared in Rugby World.

http://www.rugbyworld.com/blogs/englands-double-standards/

Ms Mockford claims that the English rugby selection policy is severely hypocritical – foreign based English players will not be selected after the world cup – however the national side will still be free to cap foreigners, who qualify for England under the three year residency rule.

This system demands that English born players are not lured, by higher wages, to foreign leagues, but at the same time offers foreigner players a better wage than they can earn at home, with the sinister aim of bolstering the national team.

Hence the side will be comprised of players born in England, who ply their trade in the domestic league and foreign players, who have been lured to the Guinness Premiership. It is a policy of selecting loyal Englishmen and disloyal foreigners.

The reason I chose to comment on this article is because of its relevance to the Irish national side and because of the simplicity of her argument – never once does she discount the impact of ‘foreign’ players or their potential in an England shirt.