IRB vote on eligibility changes

[Son of Mathonwy]

It is at the end of the day though, a job with a relatively finite window of opportunity. Why can't you play for a national team without the amateur era loyalty stuff?

They're just national club teams then, bought and sold?

Exactly. National loyalties may be a quaint idea that might not stand up to scrutiny in the current age, but it does add something to have an artificial limitation on who you can pick and how good your team is and to have them represent something, even if that's just the player development systems in your home nation. It wouldn't be the same experience as an England fab to bemoan our lack of decent locks if we could just go and pick one up with our greater wealth.

Puja

No idea why anyone other than England or France would see any advantage in having a free market in players for the national team. It would certainly wreck NZ and SA's strong positions in world rugby. And there's the small matter of going against the principle of the whole thing. They don't even do that in football....