England boosted by foreign legion

England's foreign contingent could account for almost a third of their squad at the next World Cup in New Zealand.

Their bulging impact on the

global scene will extend far beyond

the fact that, from next year, the

beaten finalists will be free to pick

a dreadlocked Tongan, Lesley

'Volcano' Vainikolo, on one wing

and a mercurial Maori, Riki 'Magic'

Flutey, at inside centre.

At least

seven more of an expanding overseas

contingent are under scrutiny

as part of a rejuvenation process

which will start with the Six

Nations in February.

How appropriate that their

theory of evolution should include

a fair dinkum Aussie from Darwin.

London Irish hooker David Paice,

24 this week, is making a strong

case for immediate promotion. And

who should be matching him stride

for stride in that respect but

another Australian, Bath flanker

Michael Lipman.

That some of the other seven hail

from even farther afield will gladden

the hearts of those who refuse

to believe the sun ever set on the

British Empire.

Dylan Hartley, Northampton's highly-rated

hooker, comes from the sulphuric

geysers of Rotorua; London Irish's

streamlined wing-cum-full back

Delon Armitage from Trinidad.

Then there are the South

Africans.

Matt Stevens, a Junior Springbok

from Cape Town whose English

mother enabled him to switch allegiance,

has already made it.

Wasps

tighthead Pat Barnard has every

chance of challenging him if he

manages to stay in one piece long

enough and Nick Abendanon,

Bath's full back capture from

Johannesburg, won his England cap

at 20 during a fleeting appearance

against South Africa last summer.

While Stevens ought to be a permanent

fixture in propping either

side of the scrum, there is every

chance that by the 2011 World Cup

England's entire front row will

come from the Commonwealth —

Stevens at loosehead, Paice or

Hartley at hooker, Barnard at

tighthead.

They all qualify because

of an English parent or grandparent

or, more commonly, because

of the International Board's threeyear

residential rule.

Flutey's eligibility takes effect

from early next season, the third

anniversary of his arrival in London

to try his luck in the Premiership.

Now, far from being a refuse dump

for so-called journeymen professionals

supposedly not good

enough to hack it in the Southern

Hemisphere, the much-maligned

English League may yet prove

something of a goldmine.

Wasps are not only producing

England players hand over fist but

they have now built a separate

assembly line for churning out

eligible Kiwis. Flutey is not the only

one.

Reserve hooker Joe Ward, his

captain when the All Black Under

19s won the Junior World Cup in

Wales eight years ago, also qualifies

next season.

The only issue with Flutey is not

over his ability — on current form

he would walk into the England

team — but in getting to grips with

the idea of a boy from the farmlands

and forests of the Wairarapa

on New Zealand's north island

wearing the Red Rose.

Professionally, he would be mad

not to and England would have no

compunction about picking him.

How many 'foreigners' have been

selected at senior or A level during

the last three years? Five or six?

Ten or 12? Nineteen, actually,

among them Henry Paul, whose

metamorphosis from Test rugby

league for New Zealand to Test

rugby union for England sets the

precedent for Vainikolo.

At 28, Gloucester's volcanic wing,

humble enough to acknowledge

the need to prove himself in a different

sport, has time on his side.

He will need it, not least to

acquire a kicking dimension

redundant in league but essential

in union and to show over a sustained

period that any questions

regarding his fitness after 148 tries

in 151 matches for the Bradford

Bulls are wide of the mark.

The

possibility of his being unleashed

on the All Blacks in Auckland next

June cannot be dismissed.

By then

Brian Ashton, odds-on to be reappointed

head coach next month,

will have learned a lot more about

another gigantic finisher born outside

England's green and pleasant

land.

Matt Banahan, once a 6ft 7in

lock at London Irish who has rediscovered

himself on the wing for

Bath, is a Channel Islander and

therefore eligible for any of the

home countries.

England also have a number of

gifted, uncapped home-grown

players bursting through, among

them Danny Cipriani, Ryan Lamb,

Ben Foden, Richard Wigglesworth,

Danny Care and Dominic

Waldouck.

None among the new

generation of forwards offers bigger

potential, in every sense, than

Newcastle tighthead David Wilson,

who ought to be all the more formidable

now that the best in the

business, Carl Hayman, will double

up as his personal tutor.

CLIFF MORGAN has come a

long way since he caught the

bus in his native Rhondda Valley on

the morning of his debut for Wales

and travelled down to Cardiff

Arms Park with the fans.

He went

home with them that night but not

before the treasurer of the Welsh

Rugby Union had given him a flea

in his ear for 'over-charging' his

travel expenses — by the princely

sum of one old penny.

More than half a century later, the

indomitable old fly half will be back

home as a special guest at BBC

Wales' Sports Personality of the

Year programme on Sunday night.

Proof that some people truly are

prophets in their own land.

After earning £70,000-a-man for

winning the World Cup, the

Springboks will be cashing in

again against the Barbarians at

Twickenham tomorrow. Their 18th

match in six months is a benefit of

sorts, with some £700,000 to be

divvied up among the squad,

their Union and the South African

Rugby Players' Association.

Aside from generating receipts of

£2million and guaranteeing a

healthy cut for the RFU,

Twickenham will be full enough

tomorrow to reaffirm the

Baa-baas' magnetic appeal.

Who

else could draw a crowd of 60,000

for what is not much more than an

exhibition match? No wonder they

will be doing it again next year at

the same venue, against Australia.

That, if nothing else, will ensure

another row with the clubs over a

conflict of interest.

The current one leaves Bristol out

on a limb. They say they take a dim

viewof Mark Regan ignoring their

refusal to release him for the

match, as per the Premiership's

blanket ban. They say their

veteran hooker will have to 'face

the consequences' and that the

matter will be taken seriously.

Regan might be fined or

suspended, in which event his

unilateral action would be

punishing his club's prospects of

advancing in Europe with a

Heineken Cup tie looming against

Harlequins next week.

Do not be

surprised, therefore, should

Bristol decide that good old

'Ronnie' disobeying a club

instruction was not such a serious

matter after all.

An investigation is being

carried out into allegations

that a number of Australian players

employed by the Western Force

franchise in Perth mistreated

quokkas — a species of small kangaroo

— during a trip to Rottnest

Island.

It ought not to be confused

with a separate investigation into

another, open-and-shut case of cruelty

to a marsupial — that inflicted

by Andrew Sheridan on the

Wallaby front row at the World Cup.

Is it not high time that rugby's

obsession with pre-match

fireworks went to blazes? What

bright spark, for example,

decided to unleash a few big

bangers at the Millennium

Stadium before the Wales-South

Africa match last Saturday?

With the roof closed and nowhere

for the smoke to escape, it

created the effect of a November

mist — no doubt at considerable

expense.

Surely the Welsh Rugby

Union would be better off

spending the money on trying to

ensure their team produce the

fireworks instead.