How do you expect them to have any interest in RL when it's never played there at any meaningful level, and the one chance they get to play in a major tournament people like you want to deny their right even though they qualified fair and square? Do you understand why RU has a better international scene than RL despite being a much worse sport? Clue: it's because they actually put effort into developing and expanding into new countries instead of just saying "f*ck it they're not good enough, lets just play the Aussies", which is what RL has been doing for about 50 years with NO progress.

Genuine question, why is saying that International RL is little else other than 3 major nations and a number of others, with the exception of PNG and France) being made up of players from the 3 Major Nations?
Is it incorrect?

Samoa 2014 is actually 11 Aussies, 12 Kiwis and 2 Samoans who have yet to get a game. For a sport trying really hard to be "international", that is embarrassing!

New Zealand became powerful when more Kiwis were playing in the NRL than just in the Auckland/NZ Warriors team.

Even if every Catalans player were French that's still only 25-30 players playing in SL and obviously not all those would be good enough at test level in the same way not every Wigan, Saints, Leeds, Wire etc player is good enough for England. I'd guess at needing at least 40-50 Frenchmen playing in SL before we'd see a significant improvement.

I don't know for certain but at a guess I'd say there are probably only 5 or 6 Frenchman playing in Britain nevermind at SL. In fact the only non-Catalans Frenchman I can think of in SL is Theo Fages.

Maybe with the British and French (or Yorks/Lancs vs South of France) culture being so different is a stumbling block when compared to a much more similar (or more easily adapted to) culture between NZ & Australia, but I still think we need to find ways of getting more French players in SL.

Either through another French team or some kind of programme or set of incentives for either players to move to England or for English clubs to sign French players.

Kiwis see Australia as " a grass is greener" country and therefore, for the kids who aspire to play top tier RL, going to Aussie is seen as giving them a better chance (15 teams to be scouted by....not just one).........Oh.....and they speak the same(ish) language.

French Kids playing League see Catalan as the team......the don't even speak proper English at the other SL clubs!

French RL needs catalans involved in their elite comp, with their own TV deal and their own development...........young French kids aren't going to be interested in moving to Wakefield FFS.......

Yeah, the sport's lack of progress at international level is embarrassing, and it's mostly a result of attitudes like the one displayed by the poster I was quoting, who are happy to sit back and moan and do nothing but try to shoot down any attempts to improve things.

He isn't wrong though. No matter how you re-plaster and then paint it.

I'd actually cheer from the rooftops if international RL was actually INTERNATIONAL. It isn't and no amount of waxing lyrical about Samoa 2014 or Scotland next time out is going to change that.....they are heritage sides.

The QF's saw 3 tries scored over 320 minutes by the losing sides.....including the 2 BRILLIANT sides Scotland and USA who were anything but full of scotts and Americans. PNG and France the only true other nations were absolutely ing terrible....9 tries over 7 games between them FFS......

Criticism of the game isn't a bad thing.........often as not it is 100% deserved, but to some, it is sacrilege



I repeat......scotland have qualified and well done them. It won't be pretty, but they deserve their spot.

Olivier Elima did

and two French kids have moved to East Hull of all places. Baile has gone to Bradford and Barthau to London.

You say about my attitude what about the governing body of the country in your avatar which denied actual Americans playing in the World Cup through some dispute or other

Baile at Bradford, Barthau at London, Fages at Salford, Boudebza at Hull KR, Simon at Wakefield, Fakir was at Bradford but don't know if he's been kept on, Larroyer at Hull KR, Remi Casty was at the Roosters but has just returned. The numbers playing away from France are increasing albeit very slowly but it's a start. Just none are at top clubs yet to make much of an impact on the national team.

We're living in a world where nationality is an increasingly fluid concept, particularly in sport.

Rugby league and England in particular aren't unique - look at the number of residency or grandparent qualified players representing England at cricket or rugby union, or for that matter representing any of the minor rugby union nations like Japan, Fiji, Tonga etc.

The Pacific Islands in particular are always going to have players who qualify through heritage but were born elsewhere, simply because of the large amounts of migration from these countries to the likes of Australia and New Zealand and the lack of a professional structure within their domestic sporting environment.

France would have qualified for the comp i feel if the top players bothered to make themselves available

they have shot themselves and international rugby in the foot big time, they actually get good crowds in france too