Ricki Flutey to play for England?

[jawmalawm24]

Just wanna know from a NH point of view about Riki Flutey because I haven't seen him play since he was in the Hurricanes bout 3 seasons ago. So whats everyones views on letting him play for the English, should he or not and is he actually good enough?

 

[Ripper]

lol, Riki Flutey.

Good to see that clubs signing up New Zealand rejects isn't hindering the path of young English players to the National Team.

 

[Prestwick]

I take a wholly immoral, true neutral and generally modern and professional sport view of this whole matter and say that as long as he is good enough at an international level (which remains to be seen by the way, not saying that he is) then as long as he has residency then he should play.

In the end however, his age and temperament on an international stage may settle things for us. Being as old as he is, he will always only be a stopgap until England can identify what exactly they want to do with their backs.

EDIT: Different nations have different perceptions on this whole issue. Italy, I daresay, holds the most chauvinistic view, surpassing that of even New Zealand in their zeal that only those of home grown blood and soil should wear a national jersey. New Zealand after all would never force Romany Gypsies to hold ID cards or be fingerprinted, let alone be deported en mass.

Because of its tradition of being a mixing pot of various cultures, from the various northern tribes in ancient times through to the Huguenots and later on the Jews fleeing persecution from Europe, we usually are the culprits when it comes to importing talent. We usually accept the huddled masses and if they just happen to be a dab hand at rugby (al la a certain young Russian Prince) then all the better! ;0

 

[Ripper]

Would hardly use Italy as an example - how many New Zealanders have they had recently? Rimu Wakarua, Paul Griffen, Matthew Phillips, Kaine Robertson and Josh Sole. There greatest ever player was an Argie as well.

 

[Prestwick]

Those players have been used by the succession of foreign coaches which the FIR have hired, John Kirwan and Pierre Berbizier made full use of their local connections to import players but this was unpopular amongst the Italians themselves. Things have come to a head as the FIR have made it clear to Nick Mallet (who had wanted to import a host of South African players) that he needs to look to Italy for players.

Thus, Italy is a good example, more on the social outlook of the Italian people rather than the usual "Foreign coach hires foreign players shocker" headlines.

Also, as a good many Italians emigrated to Argentina, there is a strong bond between Argentina and Italy. So much so that usually they don't really mind if one player comes over to play for them. Its a European thing, you wouldn't understand...

 

[Thingimubob]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Prestwick @ Aug 29 2008, 01:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Those players have been used by the succession of foreign coaches which the FIR have hired, John Kirwan and Pierre Berbizier made full use of their local connections to import players but this was unpopular amongst the Italians themselves. Things have come to a head as the FIR have made it clear to Nick Mallet (who had wanted to import a host of South African players) that he needs to look to Italy for players.

Thus, Italy is a good example, more on the social outlook of the Italian people rather than the usual "Foreign coach hires foreign players shocker" headlines.

Also, as a good many Italians emigrated to Argentina, there is a strong bond between Argentina and Italy. So much so that usually they don't really mind if one player comes over to play for them. Its a European thing, you wouldn't understand...[/b]

Yeah Prestwicks pretty much got it spot on here, as the foreign coaches did import a lot of players from overseas to play for Italy. The Italian fans aren't exactly happy with this, because if you think about it, would you rather see your home grown local star running out for your country, or some reject New Zealander/Australian/South African. There are a fair few football fans who don't like the Argentinean Born Camoreneisi play for Italy, because he wasn't born in Italy (though most have changed their minds after the 2006 World Cup). It's a bit different with the Argentinean-born players, because as Prestwick said, a lot of people there have Italian heritage. It's the same with most major European Countries. And the fact that the Italian economy was all over the place during the late 1800's and early 1900's, meant that thousands of Italian families moved away to find work in other European Countries, and across the Atlantic in the Americas. There are even loads of Italian families in South Wales - I'm part of one, and I think I would be qualified to play for Italy. So the Italians actually do have a bit of an excuse to let at least the Argentinean-born players play for them.

But with Ricky Flutey - do England actually need him? As much as the Italians moan about the foreigners playing for the Azzuri, you have to admit that without them, Italy wouldn't be where they are now, as they've helped Italy move to be a very decent team. Of course, it wasn't only them, but they definitely made a difference. But you'd think that England would have plenty of good players to keep their team going. The question with Flutey is, should England be letting a New Zealander (who's getting on a bit) who probably wasn't good enough to play for the All Blacks, play for them instead of younger, English players? It's a very similar situation to Vainikolo, and the English management have to decide whether they want players like Flutey and Vainikolo for a few years, or to develop young English talent instead.

 

[Prestwick]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Thingimubob @ Aug 29 2008, 03:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

There are even loads of Italian families in South Wales - I'm part of one, and I think I would be qualified to play for Italy. So the Italians actually do have a bit of an excuse to let at least the Argentinean-born players play for them.[/b]

Yeah, you look at Welsh rugby and you see the amount of Italian surnames there. There really are strong links between descendants of Italians who have emigrated and the "Old country", Italian Americans still have those who ask the boy dating their daughter what village or town back in Italy the grandfather or great grandfather came from for example.