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Someone on the PR website said that Smith has played in the 2008 Edinburgh sevens meaning he wouldnt ever be available for Australia - he would be a marquee signing not a development player.
http://forum.planet-rugby.com/index....06444&start=0&
Indeed he did play for NZ in the Edinburgh 7's in 2008. An scored a try in the final.
http://www.allblacks.com/news/8072/N...eason-in-style
But he is playing for the and that all I care about at this stage.
Some of those clowns over at PR seem to think that a player can only ever play for the state in which they were born.
I like to look at it this way......
Not all of us can build our own car. So we rely on factories like Ford, and Holden and Toyota to build them for us then we buy them and own them. They are still a Holden, Ford or Toyota but we own them.
Same as the ARU spends millions on QRU and NSWRU to build Rugby Players.
They may still be made by QRU or NSWRU, but we own them.
Defence rests.
So long as he is eligible to score bulk tries for the Force
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
Yeah....pretty sure they count on the scoreboard!
David Smith is an awesome player. We could use him. Cummins on one wing, Smith on the other. With Rupia and JOC flooding amazing passes their way for 80 minutes at a time, finally we will have a complete backline, and a complete team.
I wonder how many seasons we can keep him though.
No, he won't be. He played for the Kiwi Sevens team 2 years ago; so he will never be able to play for Oz and can't be counted as an emerging foreign player.
Nevertheless as the marquee player he will be good value. He is elusive and therefore somebody the Force will need next year. The debit side is that he loses the ball on contact too much.
A very good acquisition.
as a matter of interest how many players are we fielding that have played locally for more than 4 years or were born here?
I know Sheehan was born in WA
Swanepoel and Tyrell are two others... who else?
Well put TG. The defence has put up a strong case, probably unnecessarily though.
That sort of thinking (play for your suburb/town/shire/county/state only mentality) became null and void when sport became a money earner.
That is what state of origin is for, these simple purists who can't acknowlege the fact that it is fair for a player to go where the dough is!
Tyrell and long bottom, WA born and bred. Haylett-Petty was a WA schoolboy. James Stannard was signed from WA club rugby and there are several WA players in the academy, I'd like to see Melbourne being assessed by the same standard, but I bet it won't be!
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Smith is quick thats all..... under the high ball he very poor thats way his career has not gone forward. He will be a bench player at the outset.... should of stayed in Wellington I feel
There's some footage from the Edinburgh Sevens mentioned above - about midway through (13th minute, 17th minute, 21.40 and 24th minute)
Id there any vision footage from the S14?
He's certainly elusive. Looks like he's one of those players who always has time. Looks handy in a playmaker's role too.