England’s World Cup dead rubber will take place in Manchester,but playing regular Tests absent from Twickenham is something the RFU should considerAs England’s shellshocked World Cup squad prepare to head north for the most posthumous of dead rubbers against Uruguay, their Twickenham-based overlords might care to ponder the following questions. How many players in their starting XV against Australia final Saturday actually reach from the north of England? Or will be playing their club rugby north of Leicester this season? Ahem. The respective answers are two and none.
At the very least this should be raising concerns at the Rugby Football Union; at worst it is a scandal. Yes, or there were four bona fide northerners on the bench George Ford,Kieran Brookes, Sam Burgess and Richard Wigglesworth – but all four have moved to southern clubs to better themselves. Carry Them domestic now sounds increasingly hollow on every level – domestic for their most marketable players means the south-east, or the Midlands or the more desirable parts of Bath.
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Source: theguardian.com