Foreign Imports

 Having only a casual interest in football I was paying not too much notice to a match on TV when I suddenly heard the commentator announce the Manchester City team ahead of kick off. There was only one Englishman playing for City – Joe Hart the goalkeeper ! Little wonder that England struggle when any European or World Cup honours are up for grabs.

But is the England rugby union team about to head in the same direction if I note what is now happening at clubs in the premier division? The Salary Cap allowance and central funding from Twickenham has been raised and over the next two or three years is likely to reach to a sum of over seven million pounds. And, considering the number of overseas signings currently being made by the Aviva Premiership clubs, it appears that union could head in the same direction as football if careful attention is not given to any lack of home recruitment. Marquee players, especially from abroad, in both League and Union, do attract the crowds and media interest but they must be top players to justify the outlay at the expense of young, emerging home talent. The lower size of the Salary cap in the 13 a side code here in England and the huge wages being paid to retain the stars of the game Down Under has led to many clubs attracting some overseas recruits who are no better than the local talent.

What then of overseas coaches and England’s poaching of the Aussie, Eddie Jones, to launch their next attack on a World Cup? I have no problems with any overseas coach who has operated at the highest levels because I do think that such a coach will bring international experience and a different approach to that which his players have been experiencing. A change of attitude and approach at the top is often for the better and can make a squad look at tactics and the game in a different light. A new man with different ideas and a very varied background in coaching can often shake up the complacency of a player and the team as a whole. And all for the better!

Indeed Eddie Jones must have shocked a few South African coaches and players when his Japan team humiliated the Springboks in the recent World Cup. Anyone who can do that is worth a try in charge of England, a team desperately in need of a change in its style of play if it is ever again to be successful at the highest levels.      

Ray French (December 2015)