www.sporthull.co.uk/headlines/HU ... ticle.html im with Chris though, He's played for Tonga in recent years too hasnt he

www.sporthull.co.uk/headlines/HU ... ticle.html im with Chris though, He's played for Tonga in recent years too hasnt he

This is just so wrong and not helping, didnt like the fact Fa'asafalau was in before.

even though manu is a great player and would be great asset for the england team i dont agree with with us calling up non british players.

Australia and NZ do it all the time with Tongans/Samoans etc. Don't see why we should be any different. I would agree with the point that it shouldn't happen across the board, but if they're doing it, we might be putting ourselves at a disadvantage by not picking the best players available.

Congratulations Willie.

Hope he goes on to make the final squad.

well if were going to do this then why not pick pat richards? thats if he wanted to play of course

Was just about to post the exact same thing.

He's Irish, so he is.

not keen for two reasons...

he's our player and i'd rather see him have an off season without getting clattered

if i was the next in line british player then i wouldn't like to get snubbed in favour of a tongan - wtf!! was definately not a fan of the fasavalu selection

where's our national pride- what a cop out!.. getting like wendyball, not good

We dont have any other 2nd Rowers as good as Manu (at what he does) so in terms of the quality of the squad this is an improvement IMO. Not a fan of players playing for multiple countries but as has already been pointed out the Aussies dont seem to mind doing it so why should we put ourselves at a disadvantage?

I am surprised Manu agreed to play for England though.

It's a joke.

It's not - he really has been selected!

No no no no no.

Australia and New Zealand are splattered with players not born in that country so its no different to what they have done for years ..... players down under flirt between them all the time so Steve Mac has made a brilliant choice ..
wonder what we will all be saying if he has a blinder against Oz..
If I was Steve Mac he would be first on the plane!!

Still a joke.

why is it a joke??

I don't get it. The rules allow for Manu to be selected. Just like the rules allow the Aussies to select Kiwis, Tongans, Samoans, Lebanese etc. If they pick the best players available to them regardless of country of birth, so should we.

I agree wholeheartedly that the rules ought to be changed, but until they are it would be foolish of us not to pick the best players at our disposal.

Not in squad yet is he unless i have read wrong its just to train with the squad.

Noooooooooooooooo!



Did we learn nothing from the Fa'asafalau debacle! If Willie has any respect for his heritage he'd reject the offer politely.

Macca - you are a joke.

Well, yes, but it seems unlikely they would ask him to train with the squad unless he was being considered for selection.

how would you feel if you were england born n bred, been working your ass off to get into the squad and get snubbed by a tongan?! that's just how i feel, don't expect you to share it of course but surely you see my point

i'm a believer in national pride for the GB/england squad and everyone should have one thing in common - they are british

But people are acting like he is allready on the plane waiting for it to take of when really he has just been invited to train with them he hasent even said yes yet.

One thing is for sure, with Steve Mac in charge the lads at FC will no longer be overlooked if they are good enough !!
Well done Manu

I think people are debating the merits of whether he should be considered for selection or not. It makes no difference whether he's in the training squad or the final squad - it's the principle that people are getting upset about (unnecessarily, IMO).

I'm not a fan of this rule. Didn't we change the rules last year or year before to stop players jumping ship.