BR and TVOC I agree in principle with your points but he was classed as an "overseas star" as early as june this year when selected for the Exiles and just last Autumn he was playing for the Maori team where do you draw the line?

Probably when he has actually played for an international side, rather than a select 17.

Are people saying the same about Brough?

Gotcha are the NZ Maori not an international side?
I know they are the same as England A but they compete internationally and as per Brough i said the very same thing about him being Scottish.
At the last WC Fui Fui Moi Moi wanted to play for Tonga but the IRFL banned him because he'd represented NZ within the last 18 months what's so different here?
Also the Exiles may not be a recognised internatinal team but again they competed in an international game whether a friendly or warm up or whatever it's labelled they played against an international team.
Now with Heighington afaik he hasn't played any kind of representative RL in the last 18mths or so and that's where imo you have to draw the line.

Has he played for them in an "international" match? I was under the imperssion that game was a warm up for England before the tri-nations and was a select side. Are NZ Maori even a recognised International side?

In sport, I generally divide these cases into two types, and it's very often impossible to be sure which they fall into.

1) The player/athlete has come to regard themselves as English (or whatever nationality) and feels the same pride in pulling on the shirt that any other English player would. That being the case, and they are eligible, I think they should play.

2) The player/athlete has no hope of selection for their native country, and decides they have a better chance of competing internationally if they play for an adopted country. This motive doesn't work for me, and I'd rather they didn't bother.

Which category does Rangi Chase fall into? Absolutely no idea. Only he knows for sure, and Steve McNamara is better placed to judge than me.

There are certain romantic ideals which I would still like to apply to international sport, and no, I wouldn't personally choose to sacrifice them to win, regardless of whether everyone else is doing it.

Danny Brough doesn't sound Scottish to me, but having made his choice he should be made to stick with it. He has played in a World Cup for them hasn't he? That's pretty clearly across a line I'd rather not see crossed. Others are greyer areas. Being born here isn't enough of a criteria, but a sense of identity is. Shame it can't really be judged accurately.

....Even if that Scottish team was a farcical creation to make up the numbers and is unlikely to ever be taken seriously... if indeed it ever does resurface as an "international" representative side ? The whole thing is a farce. If you can't beat them join them....can England selection really afford to be based on [iyour[/i principles, if that means a [iless [/i competitive side which subsequently fails to stimulate any credible paying interest ?

NZ Maori, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga etc are not real international teams. Playing the odd game doesn't make it the case. They never will be. The Maoris are not a nation, and the other sides are made up of expats from Australia and NZ - most of whom would choose Aus/NZ if given the chance.

The only genuine national teams at the moment are England, France, Aus, NZ and PNG. Every other team is a manufactured one. GB split into the separate countries for funding reasons - it's not as though we'll ever see a credible Scotland team, and a Welsh one is highly unlikely without a SL side in Wales.

Maybe I'm odd, but Brough playing for Scotland when completely out of the picture for England and then switching to England later is not a big deal. In fact if you close that loophole you'll have no young players wanting to play for Scotland/Wales at all. I don't have a problem with a qualifying period - i.e. if you play for X you can't play for Y for say 2 years. IMO its entirely different from say Chase playing for NZ and then seeking to play for England. That shouldn't happen between the genuine international sides, but lets not pretend Scotland etc are anything other than invented, 'make up the numbers' teams.