Pretty Good Weekend of Rugby

@KiwiBird and Ireland beating Japan... only looking at UK teams.

@Yulianna Ireland better look out next week then. The AB's are a coming.

@KiwiBird 🇺🇦❤🇳🇿❤🇮🇪 they will probably mistake them for fifteen pints of Guinness and drink them down...

@Yulianna You will be Irish next weekend then...lol..

@KiwiBird 🇺🇦❤🇳🇿❤🇮🇪 i am always Irish... the Irish are the Ukrainians of the west of Europe.

@KiwiBird Nothing against Italy, but NZ defeating them was a given.

@LizOwen 😂😂😂 true!

@Yulianna NZ have been on top for so long they think it's their right - maybe it is. England may challenge - and should give the number of players in England and the history, but when it comes to the game, NZ seem to be naturals. Scotland have fire and skill but it's only a minority sport there. Wales can be brilliant on their day and Ireland are past their peak at present. SA are coming back again, as are Australia. Argentina -dark horses and the rest?
Love to see a united Pacific islands team!

@LizOwen you are right, on resources, England should always win, so is it the coaching or the attitude of the players?

@LizOwen

Super Rugby is a start.

[quote] World Rugby will provide financial support to allow two Pacific-based teams to join Super Rugby in 2022 in what it calls a "historic transformation for Pacific Islands rugby."

Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika teams are set to join the Super Rugby competition.

The governing body's executive committee has approved a $1.64 million funding package for an initial three-year period to support two Pacific Island franchises, Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika.

Both franchises will also be supported by their home unions and private equity funding. [/quote]

@Yulianna A bloody Australian/Japanese coach...for a start.

@Yulianna I think it's the attitude. England expects to win and when the other team dares to fight back, we are not sure how to react! How dare these pesky Scots/Welsh/Irish/Kiwis not let us beat them. Don't they know we're English and therefore the most important people in the world!
We even call Twickenham Rugby HQ - how arrogant are we!

@KiwiBird Good - and the established nations should tour the Pacific and invite their teams over more often.

@LizOwen 🙄 there's much truth in what you say! those upstart colonials don't know their place!

@LizOwen There best players are in France. €€€ The French pay well are are often reluctant to release them for Test duties. Another ruling that might come in is that players that have represented Australia/NZ may be allowed back at test level for their Island Nations. Currently once you represent one country you can not change back. A combined Pacific side would be awesome. A lil like West Indies in Cricket.

@KiwiBird yeah....the new Super Rugby teams will be interesting.

@KiwiBird You can switch to another country if you are eligible:

"Fekitoa's first 24 Test caps were in the black of New Zealand. They came in World Cups, Bledisloe Cup encounters and British and Irish Lions series deciders.

But this weekend would have been his first for Tonga, the country he was born and raised in.

Such switches are not easy. Once 'captured' at Test level, a player's international allegiance is usually settled for life.

However, there is a route to a new nation. If a player is eligible for a second country and hasn't played international rugby for three years they can apply to play for that second nation in an Olympic sevens event.

If approved, if picked, they can switch allegiances in all formats of the game, including Tests."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/58933219

@TheSirfurryanimalWales only if NZ stop stealing the best island players.

@KiwiBird Continued:

"It didn't used to be so hard. Jamie Joseph and Va'aiga Tuigamala, both All Black greats, played for Japan and Samoa later in their careers without the need to jump through an Olympic ring.

And it might not be as difficult in the future. Later this month, World Rugby will vote on a rule change that means players can opt to represent a second country, providing they have a "close and credible link" and three years have passed since they were last capped for their first.

Either way, Fekitoa says there are plenty more players who want to return to strengthen nations that have given the game so much.

Players who want to pay back in ways that don't involve wiring money from Europe or Japan."

@Mugin16 Isn't this the new recent changes that have just come in?

@KiwiBird I don't know for sure but it must be fairly recent as it refers to the Olympic Sevens event and rugby sevens have only be an Olympic sports since 2016.

I hope this new proposed rule change will through. Hopefully the established rugby nations vote for the best of the game and not in their own self-interest.

@LizOwen There was a Pacific Islanders team that toured Europe in 2004 and played three or four matches against Six Nations. But then the team and the concept was abandoned. I wonder if that was because they wanted to keep to play for Fiji, Samoa and Tonga or if there was simply not enough money and opportunities.

Edit: I have looked up their results. In July 2004, they played New Zealand, Australia and South Africa but lost each match. Results were fairly competitive.

In November 2006, they played the three Celtic teams but also lost all three matches. Ireland had a big win, the other two games were closer.

In November 2008, they played France, England and Italy. After losses to France and England, the Pacific Islanders recorded their first - and last - win in the game against Italy.

@Mugin16 Not surprising they lost but what a concept. A bit like the British Lions really - but with a fraction of the money and players' pool. If they kept it up until they forged a team that knew each other, they could be brilliant.