Georgia vs Romania, Argentina vs Romania and Argentina vs Georgia were rare World Cup matches last year as they were actually made up entirely of players born in these countries!
Six Nations matches rarely feature true country vs country games. Tri Nations matches never do. Italy vs England was more like a Barbarians match. Seven starting for Italy are from abroad. and four starting for England come from elsewhere too. In the case of England I´d question whether or not the RFU or the clubs are doing a good job for rugby in the country.
As someone who passionately believes in the power of an individual to take a huge gamble in moving to another country and genuinely buying into a different culture and becoming fully integrated I will always disagree with the above statement.
Argue all you want about whether Mouritz Botha is good enough or not to play for England but never,
ever doubt his dedication and pride at pulling on the red rose. England gave him a home, a job and a place in several teams and he intends to pay back that investment in him and I would call him my brother however boer-esque his name sounds. The same for Takudzwa Ngwenya; he was allowed to travel to America, he was given an College scholarship and he had people in America, people who first time told him that they
believed in him.
In short it is silly to say that these guys are gold diggers or opportunistic because at the end of the day when they become naturalised and swap their passport for an American or British passport they've gone beyond the point of no return. They're going all in so it is madness to question their commitment.
And in terms of whether this is good for rugby in the country look at it this way: as well as one or two so called "foreigners" the system has developed and pushed out a new generation of English stars such as Farrel, Parling, Woods and Foden. The salary cap and current central contract agreement has ensured that clubs like Leicester, Saints and Sarries can import a few good overseas stars and still invest heavily in home grown academies which balances things perfectly. No, I don't think adding one or two immigrants to the England squad has in any way damaged rugby in England itself not do I think clubs important talent has done the same thing.
