Quote: ThePrinter "More to do with lack of teams. No one is really interested in us playing France or Wales or Samoa. They're only interested in playing New Zealand or the Aussies because the others just aren't good enough to get bothered about.'"
Which is why those are the kind of games that the England Knights or a similar second tier England side should be playing, while the England elite side are taking on the Aussies and Kiwis. Maybe pitch them as double headers, Knights v Wales as the warm-up, England v New Zealand/Australia as the main course.
Gets the next generation of young players used to the international setup, being away in camp, learning new structures alongside players from other clubs.