2019 Rugby Union World Cup

[MichaelRobartes]

Wilkinson was at the end of his career and, whilst still a good player, England weren't being deprived of him at least. Likewise, Carter had served his time with NZ, Barrett was of course coming up behind him and he was as entitled to a final pay day as anyone else.

Sexton is a different story, he left purely for the money (typical Leinster) and soon came home when he realised what a disaster the TOP14 would be for the longevity of his career. In Ireland, international's game time is managed. I believe that this is a good thing, partly because of the need to protect players given the amount of rugby being played now and partly because it gives fringe players and younger guys plenty of opportunities. There have been complaints about the IRFU player welfare programme but if England and France want to give their clubs leeway to flog their guys all season it's their business. 

It's a shame about Webb but scrum half isn't a problem position for Wales so I doubt they're too bothered. 

I believe that the way to save international rugby is to implement quotas on foreign players in all European leagues. This has been done in Ireland with a great deal of success considering the depth of the international squad compared to ten years ago. We have our project players too, but most weren't particularly wanted in their native countries. Unbelievably, the Springboks said CJ Stander was too small to play back row and would have to convert to hooker! Of course England and France have so many teams that they don't have the same problems as us with only four Provincial sides.

That being said, the amount of poaching from SA and the Pacific Islands to France is, in my view, not sustainable. My worry is that with the project player requirements being upped from three years to five, we'll see even more guys brought over to Europe at an even earlier age to get them eligible.

[Welcome To The Jungle]

On 18/11/2017 at 10:06, MichaelRobartes said:

Wilkinson was at the end of his career and, whilst still a good player, England weren't being deprived of him at least. Likewise, Carter had served his time with NZ, Barrett was of course coming up behind him and he was as entitled to a final pay day as anyone else.

Sexton is a different story, he left purely for the money (typical Leinster) and soon came home when he realised what a disaster the TOP14 would be for the longevity of his career. In Ireland, international's game time is managed. I believe that this is a good thing, partly because of the need to protect players given the amount of rugby being played now and partly because it gives fringe players and younger guys plenty of opportunities. There have been complaints about the IRFU player welfare programme but if England and France want to give their clubs leeway to flog their guys all season it's their business. 

It's a shame about Webb but scrum half isn't a problem position for Wales so I doubt they're too bothered. 

I believe that the way to save international rugby is to implement quotas on foreign players in all European leagues. This has been done in Ireland with a great deal of success considering the depth of the international squad compared to ten years ago. We have our project players too, but most weren't particularly wanted in their native countries. Unbelievably, the Springboks said CJ Stander was too small to play back row and would have to convert to hooker! Of course England and France have so many teams that they don't have the same problems as us with only four Provincial sides.

That being said, the amount of poaching from SA and the Pacific Islands to France is, in my view, not sustainable. My worry is that with the project player requirements being upped from three years to five, we'll see even more guys brought over to Europe at an even earlier age to get them eligible.

The moving of young men to the other side of the world,, often whilst still as children is nothing short of criminal in my opinion. 

I think the RFU have to make Rugby fairer at international level. How much were tier 1 sides payed in 2015 compared to sides like Fiji? No wonder pacific islanders try to play for tier 1 nations, to help them make a bit of money.