Kevin77
Fred Wood (13)
What level do you define as stuffed?If a NH team is to win I really hope it isn't Ireland. Respect to their Union for getting their programs firing. But it doesn't sit right to me that a team can stuff their 23 with players from Aus, NZ and SA to take themselves to the top level.
I bear no grudges to the players for taking that opportunity, to be clear. Good for them for making a positive move for their careers. Nor is this meant as a xenophobic criticism that they 'can't' be Irish. Nor is it a criticism of the Irish Rugby Union. But it shits me to death that they get so much praise when they have players from fucking Tuggeranong in their XV. Part of this is driven by certain sections of the media/their fanbase who you feel are really putting the cart before the horse.
To jump on the obvious response to this point - that Aus/NZ have been stuffing their teams with Pasifika players for years - the situations are not alike. Those players come to Aus/NZ at a far younger age, far more development work is done by the SH countries and until recently, the opportunities for them to play professionally in their home country was far lessened.
Anyway...hoping for a France win from here on out.
The whole of the starting pack are Irish born and bred.
There are some backs that are from NZ (Gibson Park, Aki and Lowe). I agree that they shouldn't be playing for Ireland but they were the rules and here we are. Each of those players has a genuine Irish alternate who are on the bench but could (and have) started dependent on form - Connor Murray, Robbie Henshaw and Keith Earls).
The other overseas born starter is Hansen who was pretty much unrated in Australia and has an Irish mother I believe. Not quite poached more a reflection of the Irish diaspora (same as Bealham on the bench.
This is not a team that are doing well solely or even predominantly as a result of loading up with other countries players.
They have built great systems (which has taken 20+ years), the provinces are strong, the underage sides are strong and we're now bearing fruit.
This has been a long time coming.
The Aki's, Gibson-Park and Lowe's are controversial but they're the cherry on top which allows a little more depth. It's unlikely we'll see these type of players at the next world cup due to the rule changes and Ireland due to the above outlined work will be strong and continue their progress.
Your complaints aren't without merit but the weighting you're giving to pushing you to hope Ireland don't win is a shame