tvoc wrote:
Was Drew Broatch? Genuine question as I didn't realise he had been capped by Scotland before heading South.
No I don't think that Drew got his full Scottish cap. I seem to remember he played in the trials and for South of Scotland so was close to becoming a full International.
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tvoc wrote:
Generally, if anything, you appear to be supporting the case for the prosecution. Given that in order to recall more than a single handful of Ex England RU Internationals you have had to go back several decades
No I have said nothing to support your case. I simply listed eight England Internationals who became GB RL Internationals of note.
In fact you also have to go back more than 2 decades to find more than a handful of Welsh Internationals that converted to League.
There was a challange to name 5 England RU Internationals that coverted to League in the 70's, 80's & 90's. Well in my list are 3 (5 if you include the late 60's) that converted during that time to which I will add Mike Lampkowski (Wakefield Trinity) and Nigel Heslop who signed for Oldham in the 90's so that makes 5.
Back in the pre-pro RU days, the reason that there were more Welsh RU International players than English that converted to League is nothing to do with what League could afford to pay or that the English RU produced less talented rugby players.
The motivation for the Welsh to convert was for better financial security as the typical Welsh International came from a poor mining background. Whereas the typical England RU International came from a wealthy / public school / establishment background with excellent future career prospects so money was not the motivation.
However in the North of England there has always been a cross over and RU has been a rich breeding ground for many talented RL players who learnt their basic rugby in the RU code. eg Offiah, Atkinson etc
With the advent of pro RU the pendulum has swung in their favour for the converts. Whist it means we lose some of the most talented players it does have a side benefit that raises the profile of League on a National level.
With Jason Robinson and now Ashton our code gets TV & Press mentions every time they score. Add to this the success as RU coaches from former League players from Larder to Shaun Edwards it is not all bad news. Maybe some of the new Ashton/Robinson fans will realise that League produces some unique talent and star to follow our game as well.