England’s sweet chariots of hire
The birthplace of rugby is far from lilywhite, reports Ben Strang.
ENGLAND – land of the long white cloud, home of the brave. There’s nothing like it.
Forgive the borrowing of words uttered to remember New Zealand, the United States and Australia respectively, but when it comes to the English rugby team, it’s an appropriate place to start.
For years, accusations from England have been directed at New Zealand, suggesting the All Blacks use the Pacific Islands as a fertile breeding ground of rugby talent.
But figures showing the birthplace of international rugby stars who have debuted since 2005 show it is England who take talent from other nations.
In fact, over the past 12 years, 32 foreign-born players have made their debut for England. Seventeen of those players moved to the country for the sole purpose of playing rugby.
By comparison, 17 foreign-born players have made their debut for the All Blacks in that time period, with only eight having moved to New Zealand for rugby purposes.
To further explain the difference, 25.4 per cent of English debutants over the past 12 years GETTY IMAGES were born outside England, and 13.5 per cent of debutants moved to England for rugby reasons. That’s two members of the first XV at any one time.
For New Zealand, 15.9 per cent of debutants were born overseas, with 7.5 per cent of players moving to New Zealand for rugby.
Nine New Zealand-born players debuted for England in that period, with Wellington-born Mako Vunipola the only player to move to England for family, rather than rugby reasons. Mark van Gisbergen was the first to make the move, followed by Perry Freshwater, Riki Flutey, Dylan Hartley, Shontayne Hape, Thomas Waldrom, Teimana Harrison and Ben Te’o.
Accusations fly from the north over the All Blacks poaching Pacific Island talent.
The idea that Auckland is the For all the latest Super Rugby results and reaction and the latest from the Las Vegas sevens, go to largest Pacific city in the world doesn’t seem to fly. If you’re born in Manukau, you should be playing for your island nation, some scribes would appear to suggest.
One article in the Daily Mail in 2015, listed a Pacific Islands XV ‘‘if they claimed back some stars’’. The team wasn’t just from New Zealand, but from nations around the globe.
Only six members of the Daily Mail’s squad were born in the Islands. Five were born in New Zealand, with Sonny Bill Williams, Keven Mealamu and Vunipola joined by French international Uini Atonio and Australian lock Will Skelton. A further three players were born in Australia, while one was born in the United States.
It highlights a problem they seem to have in England. If your name sounds remotely Samoan, Tongan or Fijian, you must be from there.
There are a number of English internationals who weren’t poached. Manu Tuilagi, for instance, moved to England in his childhood. By contrast, captain Hartley moved to England as a teenager with the goal of becoming an England international.
England have four players born in Germany, two from Trinidad and Tobago, one from the United States, none of whom moved for rugby. Those were family moves.
New Zealand is far from perfect. Malakai Fekitoa, Seta Tamanivalu and others were offered rugby scholarships, then worked their way into the All Blacks.
But with 84.1 per cent of debutants born in New Zealand, the All Blacks are better than several international sides.
For Australia, that number is just 73 per cent, with 14 of 111 debutants since 2005 born in New Zealand. Ireland have 77.4 per cent of debutants born in Ireland, while Wales is 80.61 per cent.
South Africa, with 96.4 per cent, and France, at 89.8, are the most impressive when looking at their home grown talent. France have a couple of high profile Fijians, but largely select from French-born talent.