No.4 ‘Quality’ overseas players
Bit of a strange one this, as your traditionalists would once again be up in arms at the prospect of Johnny Foreigners invading our shores. So for the world’s finest rugby website (albeit also the rugby world’s best-kept secret) to be promoting overseas players would have them choking on their Rich Tea biscuits. It may even lead to them stopping mid-dunk only to lose half of their biscuit – never to be found again – in the depths of their hot beverage in a tragic ‘over-soaking’ incident. Now that you’ve paused a moment to contemplate the last time you were involved in such a sad, sad accident, let’s get back to the question in hand.
Firstly, let’s not kid ourselves, much as old school journos and, in particular, Celtic hacks eager to knock the English game, having a few overseas players doesn’t mean the rugby world has stopped spinning and the end of the English player is nigh. Because, in the English rugby world that currently has 12 professional top-flight teams and a good few more pro sides besides in the division below, we certainly have space for some quality players from other countries to add a bit of flavour and diversity to the Guinness Premiership. If you take let’s say a, shot-in-the-dark average squad size of about 30, that’s 360 top-class players and if, to be extreme, we say that half of that number is made up of players from overseas (irrespective of whether they have citizenship or not), then we still have 180 top-notch English players to choose from – a darn sight more than pretty much every other top-eight country. So what’s the problem? No, we shouldn’t have players who are beyond 30 and were never that good anyway, but if we take players such as like Chris Jack, Aaron Mauger and Rico Gear on board, then surely they add so much to the game. Not only do we as fans get the chance to see true quality close up, but other players learn from them and, if the want their place in the team, have to up their game to do so.
But we’re not just talking about the games ‘galacticos’ here. As one of the founder nations of world rugby, by giving players from lower-ranked nations such as Portugal or Canada a shot at pro rugby – whether in National One or the Premiership – we’re also doing our bit for the wider rugby community. It certainly helps the likes of Samoa, Fiji, Tonga and, not that they’re a lower-ranked country anymore, Argentina. And in France, it’s done wonders for the likes of Georgia and Romania too.
When it comes to overseas players, you simply can’t compare like for like when it comes to the home unions. If you’re talking about the English league, they have the pro teams to sustain a decent number of overseas players. But when it comes to Wales and Scotland, where they have four and two sides respectively, placing an overseas player in key positions such as scrum-half or fly-half could prove massively damaging. Irish sides, with their centrally-contracted players, opt for a couple of big names among their provinces and that works for them – although Munster fans may question the case of Christian Cullen.
If Bath produce ten international players for England, then does it really matter if the side also contains individuals from Fiji, Argentina, Portugal and Namibia? Of course it doesn’t…
