Is International Rugby A Joke

Discussion in 'Rugby Union Discussion' started by Jabba, Apr 22, 2014.

  1. Jabba HJ Bots

  2. Hunter AD Hunt

    That's disgusting. If I was a member of the Irish squad I'd be livid.
     
  3. Mariner CL Warrington

    Awful, but Scotland + Italy may have done similar things in recent years iirc
     
  4. HeathDavisSpeed HT Davis

    At the very least, they need to make the stand-down period longer than 3 years.

    Jared Payne is an even better example. He'd have played for the All Blacks by now if he'd stayed but is likely to debut for Ireland later this year having had no previous connections to the country and having learned all of his rugby at amateur and professional levels in NZ.
     
  5. Jabba HJ Bots

    5 year stand down period, max of 2 players eligible by residency allowed in a 22.
     
  6. HeathDavisSpeed HT Davis

    I doubt this could be forced under European employment legislation. What rules does FIFA use, as there aren't too many examples of nationality swapping (though granted the comparative financial incentives don't really apply to football in the same way).

    Regardless, this practise needs to cease.
     
  7. Jabba HJ Bots

    I'm not entirely sure I think it's a similar period. It also does happen IIRC, mainly with South Americans/Africans coming to Europe at a young age

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduardo_da_Silva is one example, although I don't think he would have moved to Croatia with the purpose of representing them
     
  8. cloughie09 TJ Clough

    What a joke, international sport is a farce lately this tops the lot
     
  9. Mariner CL Warrington

    Should put in agreements like the home nations have in football where they won't select players who have became British citizens even if they want to play for them etc. Would put some credibility into it at least.
     
  10. Arheiner SIA Yates

    Yeah, Fifa's is 5 year after the farces where some teams from the Middle East (IIRC) basically put out full teams of Brazilians with no hope of playing for Brazil.
     
  11. Dan DB Wayne

    Can't really blame the guy in question for taking the route that would set him up best in terms of providing for his family. Especially in rugby, where something can go so wrong so fast.

    The fact that the route is open and so simple is the bigger issue. Definitely needs to be strengthened in regards to swapping between tier one teams.

    If he was going to play for a 2nd or 3rd tier team, would it be as much of an issue? How much of a connection do you need to justify swapping nationalities?
     
  12. MrPrez CM Dyer

    No different to the Kevin Pietersen situation.
     
  13. Furball G Furball

    You have to hold citizenship for the country you wish to represent.
     
  14. weldone RM Chowdhuri

    The game of Rugby is a joke IMO. :p

    Edit: #inb4cockblock
     
    Last edited: Apr 22, 2014
  15. The Boy Brumby ZJ Brumby

    Well, if you think about it, it is.

    Pietersen was a UK subject from birth thanks to his English mum and, were he a rugby player (one understands he was a fairly useful flank forward at Maritzburg College, featuring in the same XV as Butch James) he'd have been eligible from day one because of this.

    Union's eligibility is both better and worse than cricket's. Better because once a player has committed to a country by playing in a full or an "A" international, that's it, but worse because players with no previous connexions to a country can qualify in three years.

    Pretty much every tier one and two union takes advantage of this. Recently we've had guys like Hape, Botha & Flutey, none of whom have English antecedents, qualifying on residence having moved here as adults.

    Flutey famously played against the British Lions in 2005 & toured with them in 2009.
     
  16. Cribbage RG Cribb

    Qualifying via residency just straight up shouldn't be an option after a certain age for mine. I'd suggest 13 but 18 would probably solve a lot of the drama here.
     
  17. Notsure SM Green

    Andrew Durante.

    The five year stand down period is definitely better than 3 years but this whole thing seems to be a problem with all sports. I don't mind the Kevin Pietersen situation so much because, in addition to what TBB points out, Pietersen could have played for South Africa had he wanted to. He made a conscious choice to play for England. Payne and Aki just chose to play for Ireland because they aren't good enough for New Zealand. Why would the New Zealand rejects ever beat New Zealand? Why would an Irish rugby fan want to support a team of players who are only in it for the money? Getting the rejects from the best country at rugby in the world is a fantastic way to come 2nd (if they can even manage that).
     
  18. Jabba HJ Bots

    Would love for it to be 13, would mean the alot of Islanders wouldn't be able to represent New Zealand.
     
  19. HeathDavisSpeed HT Davis

    Aki in particular could be playing for Samoa immediately if his concern was around playing international rugby. This definitely seems more like a marriage of money along with convenience.

    With Durante, he did 5 years in NZ to gain residency before he could play for NZ and even then, there seemed a few more issues. Not really sure that it's really been a necessary thing for the All Whites to sign him up either.

    Cribb's suggestion definitely solves the issues, but is highly unlikely to get any kind of sign off, you'd think.
     
  20. Jabba HJ Bots

    This is what annoys me. If he was headhunted to represent Ireland it is even more of a joke, which is what I feel may actually have happened.
     

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