Saffas playing for England don't 'stir the soul'
10/21/2024 05:55 AM
Chris Foy questions the increasing use of foreign rugby players representing adoptive countries, arguing that it undermines the core principle of international sport.
Writing for the UK's Daily Mail, he asserts that the essence of such competitions is rooted in a team representing its place and people, and that this spirit is compromised when teams recruit players who didn't grow up dreaming of representing that nation.
Foy highlights rugby’s unique situation, contrasting it with football, where foreign coaches have taken top roles. While every Rugby World Cup-winning team has been coached by someone of the same nationality, the Six Nations has seen foreign coaches dominate in recent years.
Foy references examples like South African-born Jacques Vermeulen and Ruan Ackermann, who play in England but had ambitions of representing the Springboks. He argues that England fans are unlikely to feel inspired by players who see the team as a back-up option.
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Foy concludes that rugby teams should follow the example of countries like Argentina, Georgia, and South Africa, which field only homegrown players. This, he believes, preserves the authenticity and pride that define international sport.
"The very essence of international sport is that a team truly represents a place and its people," Foy writes. "It all falls down if it turns into a global transfer scramble to find the best guns for hire, wherever they may be. What is the point of that?
"The whole concept is supposed to be founded on identity. So, it is no slight on Exeter's tough and tenacious South African flanker, Jacques Vermeulen, but when he said that he hopes to play for England, it didn't stir the soul.
"International rugby is a partisan arena of us-versus-them fervour, and it is reasonable to wish for the protagonists to have dreamed of representing a country, not just any country which will have them."
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