The standard of the Exiles team shows just how poor the level of Antipodean imports is at the moment, and they're only going to get worse.

Scrap this fixture, and give Lancashire v Yorkshire one last try - but as a single game rather than series. In addition, the England side should then play France every year.

He tackled about 3 of your players 1 on 1 in the CC, and saved about 3 tries including halting Crabtree in full flight. But being a Hudds fan you probably weren't there to see it.

--and you still got beat --

I think it's a pity that once a year the NRL champions fly across the world to play one game on a Friday night and go back again, and a few months later there's a debate about the lack of meaningful opposition for England. Is there not some way that an England v NRL champions fixture couldn't be built in, possibly in October in non-World Cup/Tri Nations years, with the World Club Challenge taking place then too? England v NRL champions would be a game with both teams really out to prove something

He was outstanding.

I agree with that. Team changing is the thing that annoys me the most. The whole purpose of the Scotland, Ireland and Wales teams is to grow the games there. I know Wales have had some great sides in the past filled with ex-RU players, but those days are gone. Now having those teams filled with Englishmen and assorted others who fly the flag of convenience to get a World Cup chance isn't going to inspire anybody in those countries to take "their" team to their hearts.

Like it or not accent plays a huge role in this. You could have a lad born in Edinburgh to Scottish parents who relocate to Leeds when that lad is five years old. He is of course Scottish, and will gain more exposure to RL by growing up in Leeds, but if by the time he reaches professional age he is good enough to play for Scotland he has a Yorkshire accent, Scots will class him as English. It's just a simple reality. Getting lads who the public can relate to into those sides is a massive challenge I accept, as I also know it happens in every sport, football and RU included. If a sport is already popular in the country, meaning the fanbase is already there and a few home grown players will always make the grade, then it doesn't matter as much. In a minority sport I think it does though.

Now having a couple of "foreign" players improving the quality of the team can be a good thing obviously, but only if those players are 100% committed to the cause and aren't just filling a gap until they get their much hoped for England call up. It is therefore imperative to me that once your choice is made that has to be it. If you want to play for Scotland, Wales or Ireland and meet the qualification criteria then fine, do so, but only on the grounds that you commit to them for the rest of your career. If you want to use them as the chance to gain a bit of experience and hopefully play in the World Cup, before transferring to England then forget it. Allow an amateur lad who is actually from that country and has no desire to play for any other to fill the spot instead. As long as players are allowed to hedge their bets, how on earth can any true national pride develop?

PS: East V West is a rubbish idea, sorry! People do tend to identify themselves as northern or southern, but that wouldn't create much competitiveness in Rl terms. East V West would be as meaningless as England V Exiles.