Every loves Mo Farah

Takes the pee all this swapping allegiance from one country to another..playing for Ireland then england etc..didn't one of the Paul brothers gain an England cap in union..absolute nonsense

By the way, he is in no way Portugese. He just got asked to play for the Junior set up as his dads mate was the coach.

I enjoyed listening to what he had to say. Didn't come across as homesick in the slightest. Part of his explaination of why he wants to play for England is because he is over here contributing to our game. Doesn't sound like he's going anywhere.

I have no problem with him being selected for England/Great Britain. There are selection rules and he falls within them, he'll add a lot to the Squad and he has put his hand up and said i'm available if i'm needed. Rangi Chase, Chris Heighton and Marie Fa'asavalu have all played for England so it's not the end of the world. I'd be happy if he got selected

Bobby Fulton played for Australia.

I think rugby league fans’ issues with heritage selection for international sides is really weird.

If people have grandparent(s) of another nationality then they are more than eligible to play for that nation. It’s very strange that people think they shouldn’t!

I’d even go one further and say it’s more than acceptable that someone can represent more than one nation in their sporting career if they are of different heritages.

I have a Polish Grandfather. If I were ever good enough to play internationally I’d love to be able to represent Great Britain and Poland at different stages in my career. I’m as proud of my Polish heritage as I am my British so why should I have to limit myself to play for one country through my career? What’s the actual reason why that would be wrong?

Telling someone they can only play for the nation they grew up in, or for just one nation in their career, despite having proud family ties to more than that one nation is like a “f*** you” to that persons other heritages.

Blake Austin is more English/British than Tyson Frizzell is Australian. Tyson Frizell’s Mother is Samoan and Father is Welsh/British. He’s got the same amount of Aussie blood in him as me: none. Yet he plays for Australia and nobody brings it up as an issue, yet they do Blake Austin who actually has an English/British Grandmother.

What would Wales’ different sports’ international sides have done without players rugby league fans think should only play for England? Because 9 of Wales’ 2016 Euros squad that got to the semis were English but had Welsh heritage and 7 of Wales’ 6 Nations Winning squad this year were English with Welsh heritage. Yet you don’t hear anybody bringing this up in association football or rugby union.

It baffles me how people think you can't love more than one country.

I get (but disagree with) the skepticism with Austin in some respects as people will think he's just doing it just to be able to play international rugby and is just using England to get international caps.

From all the interviews I've seen with Austin, that's not the case. He deeply loves his grandmother and would proudly represent England because of her. I'm happy with that. As long as a player is proud to pull on the shirt then they should be allowed to.

Great points by both of you

I always make the point about frizell, the welsh international

The big question is what is the purpose of international sport. Really it is meant to be a contest between the best players from different nations, and traditionally it has been the highest honour a player could aim for - to represent their country at the international level.

We live in a global world where people have been migrating between countries for generations now so lots of people have mixed heritage and there is always going to be some flexibility in eligibility criteria. People generally identify with somewhere. So you get Iestyn Harris, born and bred in Oldham, with a Welsh name and Welsh rugby supporting family, he obviously identifies with Wales as a rugby player so he was always going to play for them rather than England. Gareth Widdop and Bobby Fulton were both born in England but spent most of their lives in Australia, one identified with England and one with Australia, that's fair enough.

Where international sport loses credibility is when fans start to sense that it's more an issue of convenience where players exploit loopholes in eligibility to get international caps. It loses something in two situations: either when a player really identifies with one country, but realises they are unlikely to get picked, so they "trade down" to another country to get some caps, or when a player identifies with one country but "trades up" because they realise they can play for a better team. I have more sympathy with the second one, because there are some cases where a player is really good enough to be a top international and the international game doesn't offer him very good opportunities if he plays for the country he identifies with - eg Eoin Morgan in cricket, or a lot of the Pacific Islanders in rugby league.

The first one grates with people more because it seems like it's just about convenience. I doubt Blake Austin identifies himself as English, if he thought the Kangaroos would pick him, he wouldn't declare for England. Same with Rangi Chase and the Kiwis. Yes, nobody is breaking any rules but it does damage credibility when people think they are exploiting the eligibility requirements. I'm sure England RU fans thought the same when Henry Paul and Vainikolo turned up in England jerseys.

In RL you have the additional problem of a lot more swapping and changing of nations which just shows that the game is trying to manufacture an international game out of a limited pool of players. When the World Cup comes round you read the match programmes and it will say stuff like so and so won 6 caps for Tonga, then he won 13 caps for the Kiwis, and is now back representing Tonga for this world cup, and is playing against the Kiwis....it isn't the spirit of what international sport is supposed to be about.

I doubt Blake will be realising a lifelong dream when he pulls on an England jersey, or describe it later on as the proudest moment of his career, like an international call up normally would be (or like it would be if he'd played for the Kangaroos). But he will get a cap and can say he's played internationals and it will be another experience he can talk about from his time in England I guess.

In my opinion it should be binary, where were you born, or which passport do you hold !
not where you gran or grandad came from!

If dog is born in a stable it doesn't make it a horse!

I've been saying this for years
When a player signs his first professional contract, this then gets sent to the RFL/SL/NRL/PNGRL/NZRL etc.
At the bottom, there should be a box to tick for which country you wish to represent for your RL playing career, AND IT DOES NOT CHANGE (bar GB playing a tournament, rather than individual home nations). I HATE flags of convenience, just so players can get International recognition. If you're not as good as the fella currently occupying the jersey, apply yourself to make it impossible for the selectors to ignore you.

Didn't Tuilangi represent GB/England a few years back. Residency coefficient? Cobblers

Sounds like a great shout lefty. It would create a lot more trust and credibility in the international game.