The Death of International Rugby

The Autumn Internationals are one of the most highly anticipated times in the rugby calendar with the Northern hemisphere facing off against the best of the Southern Hemisphere. However, many feel it is not as exciting and competitive as it once was with many making it a two horse race between the All Blacks and England for the World Cup in Japan 2019. With the likes of South Africa and France not being the international powerhouses that they once were, we are beginning to see the decline of international rugby as there should be a handful of teams that are serious contenders for the world cup. I believe that the main reason for this is the French and English leagues' money luring international stars to the north which is reducing the talent within the national squads due to the selection policies. A recent example of this is Rhys Webb of Wales who has agreed to join Toulon on a 3 year deal ruining his chances of playing at the next world cup as Wales changed their selection policy so that players playing abroad with less than 60 caps will not be selected. This could also rule out players such as Saracen Liam Williams who have been an integral part of Warren Gatland's side. For me this may see Wales drop dramatically down the world rankings come 2019.

The France 2023 World cup bid has promised to stop this from happening to prevent what they call "the death of international rugby". They have said that if their bid is successful that they will try to stop the Top 14 Rich kids from attracting the southern hemisphere's star players. Attracting these stars is killing their own international team with foreign players being selected over French talent and is also resulting in many foreign players qualifying to play for France on residency. Another example of this has happened only today with New Zealand born Hadleigh Parkes being announced in the Wales squad instead of 93 cap Jamie Roberts even though Parkes is not eligible in the first three games in the Autumn. A key part of international rugby is the honour that comes from representing your country as it is thought of the highest level any player can reach. However there is a feeling that allowing foreign players to qualify on residency is devaluing the honour of representing their country. A good comparison of foreign players killing a national team is the England Football team with Premier League sides bringing in players from Spain and France which is stopping English players from getting into their sides. This damage is evident from England's poor performances in big tournaments and their drop down the world rankings.

South African have seen this cause a massive decline in their team as they were ranked 2nd in the world in July 2015. This may have been triggered by the start of a new 4 year world cup cycle in which many of their established internationals such as JP Pietersen and Bismarck Du Plessis moved abroad and took themselves out of Springbok contention. International Rugby is not the same with a wounded South Africa side as they are known for being one of the most powerful and dangerous sides in world rugby which is quite a contrast to their 57-0 loss to the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship. However they seemed to have a slight resurgence in their second fixture against the AB's in which they ran them close at 24-25 with the emergence of some future international stars such as Malcolm Marx.

We can only hope that Brian O'Driscoll is denied his dream home world cup in 2023 so that France can repair the damage they have caused with their financial influence on the southern hemisphere players, which would hopefully revive international Rugby to the state it was in a few years ago with a number of teams having the ability to win the World Cup.

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