So we're now playing him at 7 giving us no directing half back? Brilliant call.

It's ridiculous picking Chase for the England squad. What kind of message does that send out to up and coming English talent, e.g. Lomax? So what if the players that get picked are not necessarily as good as the NZ/Aus counterparts... the answer isn't to pick NZ/Aus players!

It's a fecking joke.

At least with the Aussies now though they are trying to hold up the select a nation and deal with it for a minimum a year if not until the next world cup.

I guess the muddled up bit is that Rangi Chase in playing for the exiles effectively selected NZ but as not an official international test can change.

But again I raise the Q I thought at the start of each season when players registered they had to select a nation? Or is this non-official. As I say it's partly the exiles / maori within last 12 months that makes this ridiculous!

You seem to be confusing the overseas/fed-trained rules (which are determined by where you're from and where you played your early professional rugby league) with the entirely separate international eligibility rules.

Chase has not represented any other country in a rugby league international. Neither had Fa'asavalu when he was selected for England.

Uate, Williams and Farah have all played international rugby league for someone other than Australia - see also Tonie Carroll, the biggest embarrassment of all.

Pick a country, declare for it and stick with it. Once you've represented one country in a full international at senior level you should not be able to change horses mid-stream - I stand to be proved wrong, but I don't think any other major sport (e.g football, cricket, rugby union etc) allows you to do this?

If Lomax was as good as Chase, he would get picked over him. As it is, he isn't, therefore it's not an issue.

"You're good, but to play for England you have to be the best."

Aye, I've only just read that he's out. The dizzying thing is though that we have quality players to step in for him!

Bang on mate.

Widdop is better than Chase though.

Rangi Chase is as English as bramley apple pies. As he puts on his top hat after a long day of rugby training, saluting the picture of the Queen on the way out, he gets into his classic Rolls Royce and, on the way home, runs over a few irishmen digging a ditch on the side of the road. He pets his british bulldog named winston and enjoys a roast beef dinner every single night of the week followed by some classic Jeeves and Wooster.

And you can't get more English than that.

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If I was a professional sportsman and had been called into a World Cup squad, I'd be an idiot to give up that opportunity.

There is a precedent in wrestling as in the early 90s Sgt Slaughter who previously had only represented the united states started representing the Iraqi nation. It didn't go down too well.

How very fickle of him.

For those delighted... Why stop at Chase?

Because nobody of sufficient quality and eligibility wants to play for England?

How about:

"You're good, but to play for England you have to get in front of any random johnny foreigner who can't get into his own national side but fancies a go."

So much racism in this thread it's untrue



What I've got from the dross on here is someone who is more than willing to both represent the nation and apply to be a citizen of the nation cannot play for the country?

Talk about small minded idiots



The man wants to be English and is one of the best players available to the England squad, so quite rightly he has been picked.



Ah so he's "johnny foreigner" now and not someone who wishes to be a member of British society and be British - hence wanting to take citizenship.

Not racist, just narrow minded and stupid

I was waiting for that one; first it was 'it's because he's a Cas player' and now it's racism.

Predictable and dull.

As the policy on international players is usually about where you come from and which strip of land's people you choose to represent it's not really a racism issue along normal lines and the debate shouldn't really go down that route in any reasonable board.

Abandon ship then.

So someone who wishes to apply to become a citizen of a country can never represent that country? Just because they were born somewhere else that means they can NEVER be considered to be from the country they work in and call home?

What about someone who, in 2 years time, will definately think about applying for citizenship - as Rangi Chase says he will?

I think the solution is fairly obvious - anyone who wants to play for the nation applies for dual citizenship first. When they are a citizen, then they are eligible.

If he wants to apply to be British, then good for him, but he should have wait for two years before he can play then. In what other sport can you represent a country without having a passport for them?

Every sport recognises the reality of migration, recognises that people move from one country to another, and that they even change nationality, That is why the 3-year residency qualification is pretty standard across all sports.