But the rule doesn’t come in until 2020 so he can’t be he first, he qualified in 2003 when he was 10 and I assume he may have moved down with his dad when he signed for the falcons in 1997

I think it’s the five year residency rule that comes into effect in 2020, the 10 year cumulative residency rule was brought in with immediate effect last May.

England squad now down to 25 and Gary Graham still included. [www.bbc.co.uk]

Garry retained


England squad update Italy

England head coach Eddie Jones has retained 25 players ahead of England’s first NatWest 6 Nations match against Italy in Rome on Sunday 4 February 3pm KO GMT.

Backs

Full backs
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Nathan Earle (Saracens)
Jonny May (Leicester Tigers)
Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby)

Inside backs
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Owen Farrell (Saracens)
George Ford (Leicester Tigers)
Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)
Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

Forwards

Back five
Gary Graham (Newcastle Falcons) *
Maro Itoje (Saracens)
George Kruis (Saracens)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Joe Launchbury (Wasps)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs)
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)

Front row
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs) *
Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs)

Uncapped *


-ends-

Is it true that Gary's dad made sure his son was born in Scotland? And now his son is on the cusp of getting his first England cap lol

Team will be announced


Friday 2 February

Pennyhill Park,
Library (press conference)

9.15am Team announcement

Why so shy? The Scotland team was announced 24 hours ago.

because England play Sunday

Quote:

Monkey1
Why so shy? The Scotland team was announced 24 hours ago.

It's a marathon not a sprint

and

we are saving the best till last

I hope he is selected to play a part.

However it may not be the most enjoyable game to feature in - as England are almost always disjointed and uncomfortable in Italy. Couple that with Connor O'Shea and it being the first round of games and it will not make for pleasant viewing. It probably won't be comfortable if you're English either.

Wales v Scotland should be a cracker though... and Ireland away to France possibly too.

Quote:

Falcons_Thunder
Is it true that Gary's dad made sure his son was born in Scotland? And now his son is on the cusp of getting his first England cap lol

George was in the army and based at Stirling castle then. Despite what you might think both parents are immensely proud of his selection for England squad.

Great interview with George on Look North yesterday, worth a look on iPlayer

Quote:

Doonhamer

Quote:

Falcons_Thunder
Is it true that Gary's dad made sure his son was born in Scotland? And now his son is on the cusp of getting his first England cap lol

George was in the army and based at Stirling castle then. Despite what you might think both parents are immensely proud of his selection for England squad.

I would have thought George would have loved to have his son in a Scottish shirt but as he has said also he will be equally as proud to see his son dm well whatever his son chooses.

He's says that he will be very proud and rightly so and to a point that will be true
But deep down when he sees Gary in an England shirt he will be hurting!!

Seeing your son or daughter playing international sport is one of the proudest moments moments of your life. There shouldn’t be any reason to hurt.

I'm not saying that they will not be proud EF but as we have seen in George's interviews he is an extremely proud Scotsman.
I saw an interview on TV this week and George was asked how he reacted when Gary told him of his decision to play for England.
George said "Gary is 100% Scottish and after I stitched my heart back together"
It not a criticism as I agree any parent would be immensely proud...but naturally I'm sure deep down George will feel a little pain as he would much rather see his son a the Scotland shirt.

Well Gary graham isn't in the England squad for the Italy game. Traveling reserve I would guess

England team to face Italy

15 Mike Brown (Harlequins 64 caps), 14 Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby 28 caps), 13 Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors 8 caps), 12 Owen Farrell (Saracens 53 caps), 11 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers 29 caps), 10 George Ford (Leicester Tigers 40 caps), 9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers 73 caps), 1 Mako Vunipola (Saracens 44 caps), 2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints 89 caps), 3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers 77 caps), 4 Joe Launchbury (Wasps 47 caps), 5 Maro Itoje (Saracens 14 caps), 6 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints 61 caps), 7 Chris Robshaw (Harlequins 59 caps), 8 Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs 3 caps).

Finishers
16 Jamie George (Saracens 20 caps), 17 Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs, uncapped), 18 Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs, 5 caps), 19 George Kruis (Saracens 21 caps), 20 Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby 3 caps), 21 Danny Care (Harlequins 76 caps), 22 Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby 35 caps), 23 Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs 23 caps).

Fair comment WD, I guess we’d all like our offspring to run out in your country’s shirt. Sometimes it doesn’t happen but it shouldn’t diminish the huge sense of pride you have, or should have, unless petty bigotry gets in the way.

It seemed fairly obvious I think when he had 4 locks in the original 25 that he was going to play one of them at 6 but perhaps Jones could have taken the opportunity to bench Gary and even if he got 5 minutes game time he then would be an England player but I presume because he hasnt actually played for England Gary is now free if he wishes to change his allegiance to Scotland.

Gary will no doubt be in the squad for the next game as well tho

Quote:

aidanb
Gary will no doubt be in the squad for the next game as well tho

aidanb: I agree with you, he looks the part and is listed in the full squad at RFU

My guess, looking at the team is that Eddie felt playing away in Italy may be a bit of an ask for your first cap in the 6N. It appears as though he has named the best team possible so there is no English arrogance on that respect.

Even if on the bench, it could be the case that he would have to come on after 3 minutes and then play 77. It's a lot easier to settle when you are at home with a crowd cheering you on, than away with everything against you.

Am I right in thinking that he isn't part of the squad for Wales as per this afternoons squad announcement? I treble checked and I'm sure he hasn't been selected. Useful news for us this Saturday but disappointing for him.

It looks like Nathan Hughes has been brought into the 32 man squad and Gary left out from the RFU announcement.

Might be in the Scotland squad after Saturday's shambles. If he is available for the Falcons could easily see Mark Wilson in the second row if Robinson and Witty are injured.

Yes very interesting.... Scotland are short of decent backrowers and England seem to have enough. It'll be curious to see what happens.

If Gary ended up being selected for Scotland this weekend it would be quite frankly embarrassing for Gary and England.

if Gary switched to Scotland during this six nations I don’t think it would cast him in great light, just because he wasnt selected for the match day squad he picks the phone up to Scotland, personally I would rather get my head down and work on proving myself to the gaffer

Where e heckers has this fairy tale come from?

Gary Graham is not going to be selected by Scotland this weekend, nor is Elvis Presley or Lord Lucan. It doesn't work like that.

Honestly...

Even though he didn't get on the field this time. I bet he enjoyed mixing in with the England boys and has learnt a lot. Gotta be good for both Gary and the Falcons.

So many positive things going on these days.

Have to say I’ve found this thread incredibly perplexing; here you have one of our players picked for the England training camp, a huge honour for him and the club, and there are as many people saying he has done the wrong thing and should have opted for Scotland as there are people congratulating him. We then move on to his dad being so ashamed of his son wanting to play for England that he has gone into hiding on a remote Scottish island (exaggeration but you get my gist) to now he is throwing his hat into the Scotland rugby ring because he didn’t get picked. It’s like reading the worst ever column in The Sun.

Nurse.........



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2018 17:19 by Exiled Falcon.

Would there be anything in the rules preventing him playing for Scotland?

(Just theoretically, I'm not starting it off again!)

No Andy Mac, not until he is capped at full, A or 7s level

It'll be in the rugby paper next week.....

Quote:

Kwa444
It'll be in the rugby paper next week.....

Surprised that he dropped out of the squad on the day after Italy and then neither played for the Falcons last w/e nor is in the latest England squad announced today. Injured?

We said last week he had an issue with his neck.