Emmanuel Mifou, the 22nd 6'8″ Toulouse international, has announced his intention to play for France and possibly can play this year. Cup Credit: Paul Burrows/Reuters
It is not known if Emmanuel Miafu has any English roots, but it's worth wondering if anyone in the Rugby Union Talent Identification Program has ever asked this question.
Miafou is eligible to represent at least four countries as the New Zealand-born, Australian-raised son of Samoan immigrants who now plays in France and hopes to represent her in the World Cup.
Height 6'8″ and weight At over 22 stone, he's exactly the type of heavy-handed second row scrum blocker that England has been craving since George Cruise went to Japan.
With the largest player pool in the world, the RFU rarely looked for talent outside its borders. Premier League clubs imported players with English roots such as David Ribbans or Brad Shields who went on to represent England, but other than the offensive charm needed to lure Sam Burgess out of rugby league, this was rarely part of a coordinated strategy between the union and clubs.
This may need to be changed. With such a small division of elite international teams in terms of fitness, most of the difference comes down to a handful of genetic freaks that can change the balance of power. Think of Cherevi herself, Tadg Furlong, Eben Etzebeth or Jonathan Danti, who had an even bigger impact than the great Antoine Dupont in France's furious 53-10 defeat to England.
Look back at England's best performances in recent times years. and they typically involve fitting and firing Manu Tuilagi, Billy, or Mako Vunipola to ensure growth line dominance. Unfortunately, injuries took a toll on all three players to a greater or lesser extent. After that, the closet looks pretty bare.
By their very nature, genetic freaks are quite rare and difficult to reproduce unless you have direct access to an Afrikaner or Pacific Islander DNA pool like the Springboks and All Blacks have on their doorstep.
So the RFU has a Choice . He can fix the path system, which can take years to bear fruit, and hope that the next Manu will show up sooner or later, or he can go hunting them.
This will be unpleasant for many, but with the exception of Argentina and South Africa, all other countries are casting their net wider and wider. Many unions hire a head of international talent scouting and development such as Joe Lydon, who has led project contributors such as Jamison Gibson Park and James Lowe in the Irish organisation. No one who was in Dublin for St. Patrick's weekend felt that the Irish Grand Slam was in any way diminished by the presence of a couple of international players on the team.
Scotland has been even more active in replacing problematic jobs with foreign-born talent. Most of their Six Nations team grew up playing rugby in another country. Doohan van der Merwe, Pierre Schumann and W.P. Nel have been the pillars of their recent success.
England women's team are not averse to taking advantage of recent changes to eligibility laws that allow players to move from one country to another after a three-year period of inactivity to invite former Canadian mainstay Mackenzie Carson to compete in this year's Six Nations. . Even the NFL, with its endless stream of college recruits, is looking for genetic freaks outside of its borders, and Meafa has previously been invited to its international development program. players such as Andy Christie and Nick Tompkins go through their age division system before representing Scotland and Wales.
What's good enough for the All Blacks, Ireland and the NFL should be good enough for England. Complacency and pride should not keep the RFU from participating in the international rugby arms race.
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