Sout Appeal: how YOU feel about the South Africans who opt for England

SPORTS fans on the social networking sites responded with some gusto when asked how they felt about the migration to England of a galaxy of South African sports stars.

The story was sparked by a simple twitter from a sportsmad follower called Ben Wessels on Twitter.

He lamented the selection of Brad Barritt for England this week. Durban-born centre Brad captained Kearsney College’s first XV in 2004 and played for the Sharks before joining Saracens and getting called-up by England’s new coach Stuart Lancaster for next month’s Six Nations championship.

In an article for Sunday’s Scoop!, South Africa’s new Sunday newspaper, I asked:

Do you have strong feelings about the number of South African stars stolen by England? Brad Barritt the latest rugby player, six in England cricket squad, even Andrew Surman of Norwich... is it fair?

We focused on the decision of ten South African-born stars to play for England, including “Saffacens” trio Barritt, Mouritz Botha and Matt Stevens plus cricket captain Andrew Strauss (though he left aged six), Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, Matt Prior, Craig Kieswetter and Jade Dernbach.

Norwich City midfielder Andrew Surman also opted to play for the England Under 21s last year after the Johannesburg-born midfielder’s pleas for a place in Bafana Bafana’s World Cup squad in 2010 were ignored.

 Here’s a selection of your responses which will be published in Scoop! (available at all respectable street corners in Gauteng and KZN) on Sunday along with a super graphic from our image specialist Johan Smith. Don’t miss it!

@Zaakirinho (Zaakir Hoosen): The problem is, many countries are unable to stop the leak. Who is the winner, Brit talent is overshadowed as well? I believe if a player represents his birth-country at a junior level he should then NOT be allowed to represent another country?

@daneherbst (Dane Herbst): To be honest I’m going to have to make sure I miss Barritt in Durban when I throw my oranges at the likes of Ashton, Haskell, Armitage and Tindall

@manqoba89 (Xolani Sibeko): The question should be, how are the English feeling about being represented by South Africans? Don’t they have talent there

@mashabanebasil (Basil Mashabane): I see it as just a career move, same with all ex-pats in the UK. They all remain South Africans  at heart. @kevinpp24 (Kevin Pietersen) is an example

@ben_wessels (Ben Wessels): Yes it pisses us off, well it does me at least. More than I like to admit actually. You can keep KP though!

@hamishfs (Hamish Scott): Wish Brad well but Boks are blessed with centres like JdV, Fourien de Jongh, Butch, Lambie and Frans. No way through.

@Sihleb6 (Sihle Blose): I will not blame England if the South African national coaches do not call up the players. What must they do if someone else is calling?

@daveycha (David Rees): It says more about South Africa than it does about England.

ON FACEBOOK:

Pal Mabelane: Don’t mind at all, it’s testimony in how competitive South African cricket is. I just hate losing against them!

Tebogo Mokoana: This is always a bit tricky, looking at Andrew Surman even though people were raving about him Pitso never paid attention. I mean that boy is playing in the biggest league and Pitso was asked first what he thinks of him! Davide Somma (Leeds) had to be trafted into the team because of the media pressure.

Tshilidzi Thame: Its not fair but good for the game, especially cricket. We have enough capacity and why not share…

Tera Twetwa: Its great to see the non-white players like Vernon Philander and Lonwabo Tsotsobe proving that they are selected on merit. It would be sad to lose quality players because of the quota-system like we did with Pietersen.

Andrew Moumakwe Jnr: Neal, South Africa’s selection system is really shocking at times. Especially soccer and cricket. No continuity. For me it’s a fair deal.

Sakhe Zamela: Are we losing Surman? This sucks big time sir

Dan Webb: You can have Jade Dernbach back!