@Jaguares4real Where did he say you're English? Who's making assumptions now?
@Stargazer good post.
I have to agree. Even though there are times it can seem mercenary you can’t deny a player an opportunity just because fans disagree.
As any parent of a potential international (even if that potential is a dream) can attest you play with the idea of what countries your kid would be eligible for. My son would qualify for England, Scotland, Australia and NZ.
I’d have to support him through gritted teeth if he was to play for a couple of those but would also be proud and pleased.
I'm happy to acknowledge folks who're Dual Nationals, Refugee backgrounds etc who have varied and complex backgrounds
Something I understand very well
Bralley was ENG U20 player & was the bloody Captain
Also capped throughout ENG age group level
I can not tolerate Bralley then not being good enough for ENG & playing for Italy Fuck Outta Here!!!
Once you commit at U20 level you don't change national allegiances in Int'l Rugby
Heinz is a mercenary pure & simple Having a granny who lived in ENG 70+ years ago ain't going to cut it
Int'l Rugby is not a playground for 2nd rate players to play for Inferior nations to play at RWC and earn some extra coin
@Jaguares4real said in NH International Rugby:
I'm happy to acknowledge folks who're Dual Nationals, Refugee backgrounds etc who have varied and complex backgrounds
Something I understand very wellBralley was ENG U20 player & was the bloody Captain
Also capped throughout ENG age group levelI can not tolerate Bralley then not being good enough for ENG & playing for Italy Fuck Outta Here!!!
Once you commit at U20 level you don't change national allegiances in Int'l Rugby
Heinz is a mercenary pure & simple Having a granny who lived in ENG 70+ years ago ain't going to cut it
Int'l Rugby is not a playground for 2nd rate players to play for Inferior nations to play at RWC and earn some extra coin
That post is so fucked on so many levels I don’t know where to start.
For starters you quite obviously don’t understand ‘complex backgrounds’ at all. Who are you to judge and ‘understand’ a particular person’s family dynamics.
From what I understand Heinz’s grandmother is proud English and always lived in England. She has maintained and promoted that aspect of heritage with her grandchildren.
An 18 or 19 year old will take any opportunity offered and not necessarily one that ends up one that defines their later life.
If Heinz wants to play for an inferior nation ( 
) then by definition he has been deemed at the level of that team.
My only complaint about waka jumping comes when a player is offered a deal they can’t refuse that is probably against their desires.
@Jaguares4real said in NH International Rugby:
Italians taking the piss again with Mercenary players
Callum Braley born and bred in ENG
ENG U20 captain but has a Italian granddad so plays for Italy
This quote below is disgusting Int'l Rugby not a shopping centre where you
pick & choose what nation you want to to play and game the system“As a kid I always dreamt of playing international rugby and I always knew that could be two avenues
so it’s one of them, whichever came first and gave me that opportunity and believed in me the most,”
Ummmmmm who the hell are you to say what someone thinks ?
If god forbid I was anywhere near good enough to play international Rugby I could have gone for the country I love and have lived in most of my life ( New Zealand ) or where my old man was born and one which I'm fiercely proud of my heritage ( Scotland ).
If you've got the family ties then fucken do it, I have nothing but respect for the Leslie brothers, Gordon Simpson, Brendan Laney and many others for what they gave to the blue jersey.
@Jaguares4real said in NH International Rugby:
You have your experience
I have mine
It’s nothing to do with personal experience. What the fuck are you on about?
Great country the little I've seen, great people.
Would love to travel to Georgia for a 7-nations match and then go skiing.
@MiketheSnow we had them in my area during the 2011 RWC. So the Council and local businesses produced Georgia supporting t-shirts, all the kids were wearing them. We had parades and huge dinner nights etc. Great bunch, they were pretty shocked!
@MN5 said in NH International Rugby:
@Jaguares4real said in NH International Rugby:
Italians taking the piss again with Mercenary players
Callum Braley born and bred in ENG
ENG U20 captain but has a Italian granddad so plays for Italy
This quote below is disgusting Int'l Rugby not a shopping centre where you
pick & choose what nation you want to to play and game the system“As a kid I always dreamt of playing international rugby and I always knew that could be two avenues
so it’s one of them, whichever came first and gave me that opportunity and believed in me the most,”Ummmmmm who the hell are you to say what someone thinks ?
If god forbid I was anywhere near good enough to play international Rugby I could have gone for the country I love and have lived in most of my life ( New Zealand ) or where my old man was born and one which I'm fiercely proud of my heritage ( Scotland ).
If you've got the family ties then fucken do it, I have nothing but respect for the Leslie brothers, Gordon Simpson, Brendan Laney and many others for what they gave to the blue jersey.
At the end of the day it is professional sport and you do what is best for your career, sure it is a bonus and privilege if you can do it for your country of birth. Look at other sports, football, cricket even
7 days later
Good piece on the rise and rise and rise of the Welsh national side over the last 18 months:
14 days later
Nigel Owens to make history by being first referee to officiate in a match involving their own country
Wales v Barbarians at the Principality Stadium on 30 November 2019
Pivac v Gatland
@MiketheSnow First time in the professional era maybe but certainly not the first time.
Personally I would be more than happy to see Owens ref a match between Wales and the AB's. Rather have a competent "home" ref than a mumpty neutral.
@dogmeat said in NH International Rugby:
@MiketheSnow First time in the professional era maybe but certainly not the first time.
Personally I would be more than happy to see Owens ref a match between Wales and the AB's. Rather have a competent "home" ref than a mumpty neutral.
Yes, of course
@dogmeat said in NH International Rugby:
Personally I would be more than happy to see Owens ref a match between Wales and the AB's. Rather have a competent "home" ref than a mumpty neutral.
Not for me in a test, especially at ref's home. Baabaas sure.
It just opens the ref up to criticism of home town bias (or even the opposite from home fans). I don't think that it is fair on the ref.
Nothing against Owens he's a good ref and I went and saw him speak (and sing a little) when he was in town awhile back. Interesting and entertaining guy.
The other nations should be able to produce a decent neutral ref rather than a mumpty, and remove any question of bias. There is enough advantage playing at home with crowd, TB producers, no travel. Leave the refs out of it.
@Snowy said in NH International Rugby:
Not for me in a test, especially at ref's home
So...Owens or Garces?
@Snowy For sure. I don't think it would be fair on a ref to ask him to ref his home side. I was trying to keep my post pithy for once so didn't elaborate.
@taniwharugby Owens every time
@canefan said in NH International Rugby:
@Snowy in this day and age I think home town bias is overstated. Endless replay, TMO and numerous camera angles means you can't get away with SA level cheating anymore
ah, yeah, right. Super Rugby season wasn't that long ago! Even this board lights right the fuck up when a hometown ref makes and "error"
@canefan said in NH International Rugby:
@Snowy in this day and age of pro refs I think home town bias is overstated. Endless replay, TMO and numerous camera angles means you can't get away with SA level cheating anymore
I never said that they were biased in the modern age and @mariner4life is correct in the post above. We have neutral refs in tests for a reason (that you mention).
It doesn't change the fact that it gives media and fans the opportunity to criticise over contentious decisions - real or perceived - basically call them cheats when it was just an error. I am as bad as most people.
I don't think that it is fair on the refs and therefore not a good idea.
@taniwharugby said in NH International Rugby:
@Snowy said in NH International Rugby:
Not for me in a test, especially at ref's home
So...Owens or Garces?
Why didn't you just mention "super city" rates as well as Garces and the cricket world cup rules and, and, and,...You would see the mushroom cloud from Whangarei.
I am now going to go and break things anyway.
2 months later
The French Rugby Federation have announced that Shaun Edwards will join France head coach Fabien Galthie’s backroom staff as the new defence coach.
Edwards stepped down from his position as Wales defence coach at the end of the recent Rugby World Cup in Japan after occupying that role for 11 years.
Edwards will now work with Galthie, who has taken over Les Bleus’ coaching reins from Jacques Brunel, who stepped down after France suffered a 20-19 defeat to Wales in their World Cup quarter-final.
Galthie was already confirmed as Brunel’s long-term replacement in April.
@Stargazer If Edwards can beat the head coach with a stick evey time he tries to completely vary the 23, Frnce could do well going forward
Both Jonathan Davies and Rhys Patchell out of the 6N injured.
Hopefully Jarrod Evans gets his chance.
@Tim said in NH International Rugby:
@canefan The South African refs are clearly biased.
I'm assuming that's in jest.
Otherwise that's the most hackneyed fishing attempt of the year.
@Billy-Webb said in NH International Rugby:
@Tim said in NH International Rugby:
@canefan The South African refs are clearly biased.
I'm assuming that's in jest.
Otherwise that's the most hackneyed fishing attempt of the year.
If you think that, then you just haven't been paying attention.
Simon Mannix left Pau in April of this year after yet another poor performance of the club. Last week, it was announced that he'll be the new head coach of ... all national teams of Singapore.
@Stargazer Surely that has to be the easiest job going. Ranked 55th in the world. No expectation for them to ever be any good. 12000 registered players.
@Magpie_in_aus To the contrary, if the goal is to improve all the teams, I'd say that makes it a difficult job. Exactly because there are not many players to pick from.
Wales coach Wayne Pivac has named New Zealand-born backs Johnny McNicholl and Willis Halaholo in his first squad.
No doubt we will see James Lowe lining out for Ireland eventually too.
@mofitzy_ said in NH International Rugby:
Wales coach Wayne Pivac has named New Zealand-born backs Johnny McNicholl and Willis Halaholo in his first squad.
No doubt we will see James Lowe lining out for Ireland eventually too.
They've earned it
@MiketheSnow
Living out their childhood dreams.
@MiketheSnow said in NH International Rugby:
@mofitzy_ said in NH International Rugby:
Wales coach Wayne Pivac has named New Zealand-born backs Johnny McNicholl and Willis Halaholo in his first squad.
No doubt we will see James Lowe lining out for Ireland eventually too.
They've earned it
I say this without knowing the players and knowing the rules but it just doesn’t sit right to me. Not knocking Wales here, we’re guilty the right side of the river too. I have no problem with the Faletau’s and Vunipola’s but three years at these ages is just wrong to me. There’s a world of difference between 3 years at 15 and say early 20’s. Worse still is the parachuting of players like Shields. And yeah, I know this has been done to death in here. 
️
@Catogrande to be fair, Shields has spent his whole career showing the handling skills I got used to at club level here.
@Bones said in NH International Rugby:
@Catogrande to be fair, Shields has spent his whole career showing the handling skills I got used to at club level here.
Well in THAT case. A shoe in for the England back row.
@mofitzy_ said in NH International Rugby:
@MiketheSnow
Living out their childhood dreams.
Their childhood dream was to play international rugby for the ABs I'm sure.
They weren't good enough, so playing against the ABs is the next best thing.