Hear, Hear, Side Burns

In the past decade or so, playing for your country has been seen as an inconvenience to some people in ANY sport, not just RL.

All these Premiership footballers, with their "Oh, I've retired from internationals now" guff. Especially the ones (Chris Sutton comes to mind) who've got about half a dozen caps, and realise there are 5 or 6 ahead of them in the pecking order, so they wont get a game. It's just "look at me, I really am Billy Big Biscuits, because I'm retiring...no you weren't as good as others.

People pulling out of international matches with the tiniest injury/runny noses

Last week, Gerrard at Liverpool asked not to be included for England's upcoming game as he wasn't fit, yet he was fit enough for the Derby, the week before.

In our game, we have people changing nationalities because either
a) there are people better than them in their original nationalities ....Pat Richards
b) they know their original choice of nation is a pile of plop at the game, but they wanted international recognition at the time. Now they've improved as a player, they want to change their nationality...Chris Bridge/Gareth Carvell.

GET SOME PRIDE

Pat Richards doesn't look the same player after his injury, ive read people on your board say similar. He's deffo lost a yard of pace.

Anyway he's irish through and through, it would make a mockery of our international game if we started to let players from other countries play for England.

To be fair to Pat Richards, both his parents are Irish. So he's a full Irishman really.

And with Ryan Hall scoring 30 tries or more for 3 seasons in a row, you wouldn't pick anyone else. That guy is top class.

That's a little unfair as it seems like you're saying that this is how it is on the whole. Whereas i think it's just the odd players who are like this every now and again. I reckon loads of players love playing for their country (their proper country) and have a lot of pride in doing so.

great news for players from the southern hemisphere that cant get a full cap with NZ or AUS....Now that they know we are willing to give England international honours to foreigners they will be flocking over.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Rangi Chase is English, he'll never be a pie,
Would he play for Wigan, I guess he'd rather die,
Playing for Wire, would be an awesome sight,
Man of Steel Rangi, makes young Sam look shyyte.

It makes me laugh how all these England fans are so bothered about having a New Zealander in the team.

Would you rather have Sam "Rat Boy" Tomkins?

Remember the exiles game.....we haven't booed anybody so hard since Frank Lampard played for England

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"English talent" does anybody really care apart from Phil Clarke and Eddie Hemmings

atkins!

"Consistently breaks the rules".

Yup, thats Sam.

Apologies. I wish I'd written 'bends'. Cause that arm clamp he did for a season and a half was very classy. As is his milking of penalties or the vs he flipped this year.

And it isn't like he is a good leader or, despite what pie in the sky thinker phil clarke says, a very good fullback.

When Allan Langer played for us every tackle he made involved using his foot to trip the ball carrier. But the refs didn't dare do anything because it was known as a "Langer trademark" in Aus.

I quite like the bad boy in Sam.

Think of Morley at a comparable age, he hadn't made a tackle below the neck yet. Same with Kohe-Love.

As for flipping the Vs didn't Matt King make the ham shanker gesture to his own fans?

The way some people go on they want every player to be a goody two shoes like Phil Clarke was.

probables vs possibles

you are right. I was questiong the notion that people who don't want chase in the team and those that boo sam aren't both justified. I don't feel too strongly on the issue. I have made my feelings on chase clear and I don't think sam is a very good fullback (my opinion)

You readily admit in your post that these players weren't liked for their attitudes/ dirty antics in the game. I don't remember the feeling in the air at the time of morley as a youngster (before aus) but as the only english man (and the only relevent example on this point) I remember him being a great lewader (12 sewcond sending off aside) for his country. This something sam hasn't yet develeoped.