Puff Daddy wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2019 8:18 am
Just as a matter of interest, how many Japanese players do Japan have in their rugby team? As they lined up for their national anthem, I counted about 6, including two named Moore and Thompson, good old, traditional Japanese names those
Michael Leach, their former captain, is New Zealander with a Fijian mother who moved to Japan as a 15 year old, so has every right to play for Japan Puff, these things are not always black and white.
I'm not sure about the others, but the fact is pretty all international sport is open to mercenaries who play for money, not necessarily for their home country.
I doubt there are many teams in the competition made up entirely of players born in that country. The exceptions being the pacific islanders, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, South Africa and possibly Argentina.
Many of those of course are like the Vunipola brothers who came here as children and grew up here, others like Heinz and Tuilagi came here to play rugby.
The Old Man of Storr wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2019 10:23 am
About the same number of English players playing for the England Cricket Team , even your Captain is Irish .
ToMoS you do realise that its the England & Wales cricket Board, Welsh players (Robert Croft for example) play for England as there is no separate Wales Cricket team so he's your captain too
However, you've also picked on the wrong team (IMO) and Morgan is only the ODI captain and is actually the only mercenary in the team.
Ben Stokes moved to England as a 12 year old when his father moved here to coach Rugby League, he's now 28 so has lived in England longer than he did in New Zealand.
Jason Roy moved here as a 10 year old when his family moved here and has also lived here longer than he lived in South Africa.
Both learned to play cricket in England.
Jofra Archer has an English father and is therefore eligible to play for England if he so wishes.
So by my reckoning that's one non-Englishman they have playing for the ODI team and none playing for the Test side.
The England Rugby team have more as they have two, Heinz and Tuilagi.