OPINION: The moral guardians of the northern hemisphere have apparently lost their voice.

In case you missed it, England added back-rower Nathan Hughes, of Fiji and formerly of Auckland, into their 37-man training squad last week.

Hughes' addition, after he satisfied the three-year residency period, swells the number of overseas-born players in England's squad to eight, a mixture of New Zealanders, sons of Samoa, Fiji and Tonga, and a representative from Zimbabwe who used to play for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup.

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And that number does not include Manu Tuilagi, who has been ruled out by another injury. By contrast, the current All Blacks squad includes four players who were born overseas - Jerome Kaino (American Samoa), Waisake Naholo (Fiji), Malakai Fekitoa (Tonga) and Tawera Kerr-Barlow (Australia).

It's a desperately inconvenient fact for those who have criticised the All Blacks for years, decades. And perhaps that is why it has been almost universally ignored.

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Don't expect the Irish or Scottish to put the boot in either. They have been among the busiest in exploiting the three-year residency rule, drafting in the likes of Jared Payne and WP Nel from New Zealand and South Africa, respectively. And the Welsh have just signed Willis Halaholo.

Let's be charitable and put the north's silence down to a greater understanding of the complexities of player movement as more and more talent is lured to the home unions.

For example, the South African CJ Stander is a prime example of rugby opportunism, outwardly at least. But in interviews the Ireland international has conveyed with conviction how the early years of his shift were a time of some stress - in a new country, a challenging climate, without the support networks he left in South Africa, with no guarantee that he would make it. Even if we disagree vehemently with the three-year residency rule, we have to acknowledge that it is not all instantly milk and honey for players who arrive in new lands.

But the less charitable out there would be inclined to say the silence is more akin to the embarrassed kind, having misrepresented the All Blacks' relationship with the Pacific Islands for a long period of time.

That relationship was summed up quite perfectly by the speech Richie McCaw gave in honour to Keven Mealamu on the occasion of Mealamu winning his 100th cap. It is a moment that has stuck in the mind. To paraphrase McCaw, he said that Mealamu - who looked visibly uncomfortable by the tribute in that very Mealamu way - was a great All Black, a great New Zealander, and a great Samoan. There was no attempt to play down that key part of Mealamu's identity, no embarrassment at acknowledging the nation.

The north would be appalled at such nuance of course. For them, it has been purely a case of New Zealand feeding parasitically on Island talent rather than being indebted to it (an important distinction), and certainly no attempt to explain that the broader relationship between the countries. But I suppose if you lose so regularly the bitterness always finds an outlet.

And so Hughes - who is blameless I might add - will be quietly assimilated into the England squad, because that is the way of the world.

Those are the current rules, and England can pay more than Fiji, just as they could pay more than the Australians for Ben Te'o, so that's that.

Hughes might even bolt into Warren Gatland's Lions squad next year, because he is exactly the type of bruising ball carrier the New Zealander likes.

And the All Blacks' fiercest critics, normally so vociferous, have barely said a word.