Are the British International teams suffering from too many foreign players in the league?

Question

Don't get me wrong, it is great to see them, but aren't our young players being pushed aside in favour of gate receipts that big names from the southern hemisphere draw?

Answer 1

There may possibly be a lot in what you say, in that for some, gate receipts are more important than the 'game'.

There is in my opinion far to much pandering to business in sport these days.  What we have is 'corporate entertainment' and not 'mob entertainment'.  Somehow the whole point of the 'game' has got lost.

As for foreign players in British International teams, I was always of the belief that in order to play for say Wales, a player had to have been born there, of whatever race.

On the soccer front for example, we had the Vinny Jones [Welsh Cockney] who could not play for England because he had not been born there.  At the same time, we had players of Windies descent who could play for England because they had been born there.

I suppose these rules of place of birth still apply.

The major difficulty, as I see it, in any sport, is that not enough attention is being paid to 'local sport'.  In cricket for example, the village game in England is dying for lack of funding. We cannot expect village teams to survive purely on the goodwill of some landowner, who may in the past have been quite happy to set land aside for that purpose, but who now, seeing an opportunity for profit has sold that land for other purposes.

On the subject of the cricket.  I have been listening to John Major talking about it on the radio.  He has been talking about the lack of support at village level and the difficulties this causes for the game.

The same basic rule of thumb must therefore apply to the rugby.  My own nation of Wales has suffered much in respect of the game, because once the pits were closed the funding for the game simply dried up.  I think quite a lot of money then would have been easily available from the many miners with a great deal of money to burn, more than is the case today.

There seems to be endless monies to buy in players from abroad but hardly any or none to support the 'local' game down on the village green.

We've got to do something about that, but what?

Answer 2

I would say yes. Given the English League system which is club based and therefore club biased the only way to stay competitive is to have a smaller squad of highly competent players. If a gap in the team exists then it is quickly filled with the best possible player for the job.. Problem is that when all of the other competent players are already playing for the other league teams, and your development players are all out playing for NL1 teams to get conditioned the only place to go is abroad. But we all know the real reason is money. Without results you`re on the road to nowhere fast.

The big problem is when you get relegated and all your top  players jump ship. So when the RFU do manage to ring-fence the Premiership so that there will be no promotion or relegation, what are the lower league teams going to play for?

Or for that matter what will happen to the up & coming players?

I`m a Scarlets fan, and even though I don`t agree completly  with the Regional system, it is begining to show some good results.

Answer 3

I would say that the only team suffering because foreign players are playing in their system is England.

Answer 4

I think it is us in the southern hemisphere that is suffering because now young players like mcalister and hayman are going and in mcalisters case coming back for the next world cup. If any thing they will teach the young players in the northern hemisphere a different way of playing the game and also it makes it more of  a spectacle so more people watch and more kids then want to play.Because there is a limit on the amount of international passport players (players with pacific island passports don't count eg filo tiatia of the ospreys) in a team then this should mean if a player is good enough then he will get a spot in another team.

Answer 5

Easy answer - YES!

I agree that is great to see some of these guys and I understand why the clubs over here want them, likewise I understand why the players want to come to the UK and play - ££££££££!

With the massive amount of fixtures we have in the UK compared to anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere we need larger squads and top level replacements to stay competitive in all the different competitions. Plus you then need cover for when the Six Nations is running.

We have a very poor structure to our competitions with too many overlaps and just way too many fixtures in general, for the players that is.

I like what Sale have said about the internationals and having to earn their spots back if the young lads are justifying their places! Good on 'em!

Answer 6

Kia Ora,

Unfortunately, it seems that your problem with imported players will only get worse.

The migration of our southern hemisphere players heading north is a direct result of the English clubs influence over northern hemisphere rugby.The money on offer to these young men heading your way is twice or triple what they can make at home.

Do the northern hemisphere clubs give a d**n?....I don't think so these imported players are putting bums on seats therefore more money is going into the coffers and thus the cycle continues.

I agree that imported players will have some positive influences in the variation that they will give to the game over there but at what cost?, your young talent and future internationals are forced to the bench.

The English clubs have already shown us here in NZ that Internationals don't mean anything to them by forcing your Rugby Union to send second and third pick teams our way.

The question you perhaps should be posting is Are British International teams suffering from the stranglehold and greediness of their club system?.

Answer 7

it's certainly a problem with the English teams. If you look at the best forwards in the GP, most of them are Argentinian or French, which is why England are struggling to replace their retired players. Even if an English player is playing well for a team in the lower leagues, they are usualy signed by the big clubs as replacements, which is even worse for the international team.

In Wales, every region has smaller teams under it, which are used to develop the youngsters before moving to the big clubs. A similar thing happens in Ireland, where they also have Connacht as a development region to bridge the gap between the semi-proffessional teams and the regions.

This will never happen in England, as it's the clubs with all the money. All that their backers care about is their own club being successful with whatever players they can get. They aren't going to want to help the RFU, if it means their clubs are less successful and it reduces their crowds and sponsorship.

Answer 8

Look at football, the so called game has reached the point where some of the top teams can not fill any international positions. the arrival of masses of foreign players always water down the local game and stop the young from gaining places. Thus we in England now probably only have sufficient players to fill one team and no choice at that.

Answer 9

There should be a cap on the foreign players in a team or on the number played in any one game.

Players from other nations and hemispheres helps our own players as well. Having the best from other nations increases the level of skill and play, our players can only benefit from an increased standard of rugby.

But if the whole team playing is imports then that clearly defeats the object. There needs to be a fine balance. Having no foreign players would also damage our international squad as the general level of national rugby would not be as high as it is now.

Answer 10

Their situation is kind of hard. They have problems with the payers, the coaches, then cant find a style to play. The last match England lost against Argentina, should have been the end for a lot of people, and we would see why in this world cup.

Answer 11

In England they are definately!