Might be a grandparent in there somewhere, but both were born in Australia as was their Dad as far as I know.

That's all well & good as things stand right now, but what if Graham retires, Burgess x 2 & Whitehead are crocked, Hodgson & Cooper are woefully out of form. Would you be happy with drafting in 5 Aussie forwards (with a tenuous link to England) to join Burgess.

Unlike you, I am not that desperate.

The problem with loosening up any rules is not usually the effect it will have immediately, rather the unintended consequences down the line.

I think that you are probably correct across the board with that.

It's a shame that some people would prefer to stifle the development of say Don Manfredi or Tom Lineham simply because Brett Morris is (crazily) eligible for England. The fact is he's played for Oz, he's Australian, his parents are Australian, he shouldn't be eligible for England. He's only up for selection because he hasn't made the Kangaroos team for two years!

So under those rules I am not 'English' in a sporting sense - being born in Germany to English parents and then living in England for 27 of my 30 years (bar the first year in Germany, the last 8 months in Scotland and a year in France.

But conversely if my parents were both Australian, I was born in England and then went back to Australia and spent all of my life there, I would have more entitlement to play for England..?

I don't like the grandparent thing myself although I did once play junior RU with a guy who found out he had a Dutch grandparent. He was called up to play second row in a WC qualifier in 1998 - against England at Twickenham. He was scared sh**less. He managed to weasel out of it in the end which was just as well as England won 110-0 without breaking sweat.

Depends how you look at it, I have family in Aus and they all moved out in the late 60's but came back for a spell in the 70's. my cousins kids are all Aus born, one of my cousins was Aus born, but there parents are and grand parents are British born. Two of my cousins who both played league are eligible for Austrailia through birth, England through parents and philapeans through their mother. I think if you have a strong family history and affiaction to your uk ancestry then why not.

True, but I think if you're born in a country and your parents were born in a country and you lived all your life in a country then you should play sport for that country, not one a grandparent may have been born in.

You shunt even of been on this board .you should of been on the Jerry one.

Don't see it that way myself, it don't see why you can't consider yourself British by ancestry specially if two or more grandparents are, and Australian. What is more important for me is you pick a country when it comes to team selection and stick with it, I am sure we're are all sick of this swapping and changing sides and picking a home nation or Pacific team as a fall back option. International RL can only get stronger this way.

I don't actually have a problem with people swapping international teams under certain conditions. If you move residence and take up another nationality eventually I see no problem with then qualifying to okay sport for your adopted country.
My grandad was Born in Scotland but lived nearly all of his life (from being very young)in Leeds, my parents were born in Leeds, all my other Grandparents were born in Leeds etc. Me being able to represent Scotland at rugby just seems daft.

True. What hope does it give to aspiring fringe international players when they see there efforts blocked by mercenaries. I'd rather lose with English players than the embarrassment of only being able to compete by loading the team with Aussies.
Come on people, where's your bl**dy pride gone?