Former Wales Boss and New Zealand head coach ahead of the Autumn International has been interviewed in today's Wasting Mule
He makes some pertinent comments
Though admittedly many came there as children. and could wel be as patriotic as any New Zelander
Of course when he and Graham Henry came to Wales the latter as "The Great Redeemer I doubt that was Hansen's view.
Our own Toby Faletau was born in Tofoa, Tonga, to Tongan international Kuli Faletau, who represented Tonga at the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Kuli moved to Wales in 1998 to join Ebbw Vale, taking a seven-year-old Taulupe with him
To my mind Toby is as Welsh as anyone who wers the Red Jersey
And of course George North was born in 1992 in King's Lynn. His mother is Welsh and from Anglesey, Wales, and his father is English and from Yorkshire; he was a Police Sergeant in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. His family moved to Hong Kong, on Royal Air Force duty, when he was 14 weeks old. The family returned to Anglesey on 13 January 1995 when he was aged two
If George Family had moved to say Bath instead it would make no difference to his eligibility for Wales .Though i suspect England would have snapped him up.
Place of birth should not be a measure of Nationality its what's in your heart that matters.and it does show what immigrants bring .
The All Blacks would not be the potent force without these players but that does not mean that these players are not New Zealanders
Indeed it shows that Immigration can strengthen us in many ways. in many sectors .
My beloved nephew is now 7 and was born and being raised in Derby by Welsh Mother and he probably being more aware of his Welshness than most children here.
Its my dream to se him playing rugby for Wales but it will be his choice who he pays for subject to ability and eligibility.subject to (Though his Mam might have some say).
If Gareth Anscombe good enough and has the desire to play for Wales with all his heart then good for him.
But lets be clear it is the desire to play for your Nation that is the most important.
What do you think of Wales’ development as a rugby country since you left as their coach in 2004?
They’ve won four Six Nations, three with Grand Slams, so obviously they’ve gone pretty good results-wise.He might well be right but there's more than a whiff of hypocrisy coming from the New Zealander who have a number in the squad who were not born there.
But if the relationship between the franchises (regions) and the union isn’t great, then that’s not good.
You need to be united.
It’s all very well having a short-term focus but you’ve got to have a massively long-term focus as well.
There’s got to be development plans; you can’t keep coming over and getting our players (Welsh-qualified New Zealander Gareth Anscombe having been recently recruited) all the time.
Though admittedly many came there as children. and could wel be as patriotic as any New Zelander
Of course when he and Graham Henry came to Wales the latter as "The Great Redeemer I doubt that was Hansen's view.
Our own Toby Faletau was born in Tofoa, Tonga, to Tongan international Kuli Faletau, who represented Tonga at the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Kuli moved to Wales in 1998 to join Ebbw Vale, taking a seven-year-old Taulupe with him
To my mind Toby is as Welsh as anyone who wers the Red Jersey
And of course George North was born in 1992 in King's Lynn. His mother is Welsh and from Anglesey, Wales, and his father is English and from Yorkshire; he was a Police Sergeant in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. His family moved to Hong Kong, on Royal Air Force duty, when he was 14 weeks old. The family returned to Anglesey on 13 January 1995 when he was aged two
If George Family had moved to say Bath instead it would make no difference to his eligibility for Wales .Though i suspect England would have snapped him up.
Place of birth should not be a measure of Nationality its what's in your heart that matters.and it does show what immigrants bring .
The All Blacks would not be the potent force without these players but that does not mean that these players are not New Zealanders
Indeed it shows that Immigration can strengthen us in many ways. in many sectors .
My beloved nephew is now 7 and was born and being raised in Derby by Welsh Mother and he probably being more aware of his Welshness than most children here.
Its my dream to se him playing rugby for Wales but it will be his choice who he pays for subject to ability and eligibility.subject to (Though his Mam might have some say).
If Gareth Anscombe good enough and has the desire to play for Wales with all his heart then good for him.
But lets be clear it is the desire to play for your Nation that is the most important.
1 comment:
Hypocrisy of the highest order from Steve on this one - New Zealand (Australia too) have been stealing players from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga for years, decimating their national rugby sides in the process.
Speaking of tomorrow's game what are the chances that after the game we'll be hearing noises from the Wales camp along the lines of "we are still playing catch up with the southern hemisphere" and "its' a learning curve". As we've been hearing these cliches for years - sadly we wouldnt be surprised to learn the WRU's press officer has already got them typed out ready for despatch after tomorrow's match.
But of course we at Green Dragon live in hope that Wales long wait to defeat the famous All Blacks might come to an end tomorrow. It has to happen sometime - doesnt it?
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