Gloucester beaten by Top 14 newcomers Vannes in France

I also doubt English fans will criticise if there isnt too many English players on the tour. We are the most realistic about our team.

Bundee was born and raised in NZ, and every AB on the team as of last year at least played high school rugby in NZ, though some were on scholarship. That, however, is still a better basis of selection than paying U20 players to come to your country just so they can play for you in 5 years time.

'Professionalism' is present in football, another global sport, but I don't see nations paying young players to come stay in their country so they can play for them. I am not educated on the eligibility laws for International football, but I assume there is no way to do that.

This whole argument you have boils down to pilfering the PIs (including NZ) for players because the ones you have at home aren't good enough. That is just an outrageous opinion.

That is essentially colonialism, depleting the natural resources of a nation to fulfill the needs of your own, at the expense of the natives of the land. And here I thought the Irish hated British colonialism.

But I would love to see a big game in February. At the height of humidity. Should be a spectacle.

We might see our first live death during a rugby game. ☠️

Although that may slow the game down. Which would be inconvenient given World Rugby’s efforts to speed the game up.

The point is that not all players hit their potential. If Junior Kpoku is legitimately world class in 2027 then he'll make the squad, but he might not be. Nick Isiekwe had insane levels of potential when he was 19, as did Joel Kpoku.

If Junior Kpoku came back to England now, he'd probably get into the squad pretty quickly and be a shoo-in for the Isiekwe/Coles role for a few seasons at least. If he waits until 2027 then he's gambling everything on becoming truly elite over the next few years, which is going to be a really tough ask.

France makes more sense for players on the periphery of or out of the bok mix, or at the end of their careers making good money before they retire.

I'm quite glad less Boks are playing in France.