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Following the popularity of Americas Rugby News’ Foreign-Born Players at Rugby World Cup 2015, the hot topic of debate regarding player eligibility is to be looked at again. In this piece Americas Rugby News takes an in-depth look into the foreign-born players in each Six Nations squad, where they were born and how they are eligible.
All told, the 2016 Six Nations Championship will have a grand total of 21 countries involved in the tournament. The Americas are represented by five players born in three different countries – Argentina, St. Lucia, and the USA. The Six Nations are joined by four other European countries – Albania, Germany, Netherlands, and Spain.
The Celtic nations each have players born in England. In total 16 English players will play for other countries in the tournament. The next highest producers, by birth, are New Zealand and South Africa who have 10 and 9 respectively.
SCOTLAND (14) Unsurprisingly it’s the Scots who have the most players in the group, overtaking Wales who just edged them at the World Cup. With the smallest pool of players to choose from, Scotland is often forced to look beyond its borders to seek out eligible prospects. Their total of 14 could yet grow with scrumhalf Henry Pyrgos expected to join the group later and Ali Price next in line. Both are born in England. Some players have qualified, such as John Hardie who was selected before ever playing a match in the country. The selection of Tennessee’s Tommy Seymour means a player from the USA will play in the Six Nations.
| PLAYER | POS | PLACE OF BIRTH | ELIGIBILITY |
| WP Nel | THP | South Africa | Residency (2015) |
| Tim Swinson | LO | England | Grandparent |
| Ben Toolis | LO | Australia | Parent |
| John Hardie | FL | New Zealand | Grandparent |
| Blair Cowan | FL | New Zealand | Parent |
| John Barclay | FL | Hong Kong | Parent |
| David Denton | N8 | Zimbabwe | Parent |
| Josh Strauss | N8 | South Africa | Residency (2015) |
| Sam Hidalgo-Clyne | SH | Spain | Parent |
| Ruaridh Jackson | FH | England | Parent |
| Duncan Taylor | CE | England | Parent |
| Sean Maitland | WI | New Zealand | Grandparent |
| Tommy Seymour | WI | USA | Parent |
| Tim Visser | WI | Netherlands | Residency (2012) |
WALES (13) The 37-man roster named by Warren Gatland features 13 players born outside of Wales. To suggest they are there only on eligibility grounds, though, would be misleading. Most of the foreign-born players in the squad grew up in Wales, with props Tomas Francis and Aaron Jarvis, second row Jake Ball, wing Alex Cuthbert, and utility Gareth Anscombe the exceptions.
| PLAYER | POS | PLACE OF BIRTH | ELIGIBILITY |
| Tomas Francis | THP | England | Grandparent |
| Aaron Jarvis | THP | England | Grandparent |
| Jake Ball | LO | England | Parent |
| Luke Charteris | LO | England | Residency (1986) |
| James King | FL | Australia | Residency (1993) |
| Dan Lydiate | FL | England | Parent |
| Ross Moriarty | FL/N8 | England | Parent |
| Taulupe Faletau | N8 | Tonga | Residency (2001) |
| Gareth Anscombe | FH/FB | New Zealand | Parent |
| Jonathan Davies | CE | England | Parent |
| Alex Cuthbert | WI | England | Parent |
| George North | WI | England | Parent |
| Hallam Amos | WI/FB | England | Residency (2002) |
ITALY (10) Jacques Brunel has taken a high-risk approach in making multiple changes to his roster since the World Cup. Argentine Matías Agüero has retired from international contention, injury has ruled out some like Quintin Geldenhuys, and others are overlooked like Fijian duo Samuela Vunisa and Manoa Vosawai. Often criticized as failing to produce home-grown talent, Italy is fielding fewer players from abroad than Scotland and Wales and the same number of residency qualified players as Ireland. Of the 10 newcomers, Albanian-born Ornel Gega moved to Italy aged nine and began playing rugby at 15. Former South African u20 rep Braam Steyn became eligible in 2015, as did 31-year-old Bloemfontein export Dries van Schalkwyk.
| PLAYER | POS | PLACE OF BIRTH | ELIGIBILITY |
| Ornel Gega | HK | Albania | Residency (2002) |
| Martín Castrogiovanni | THP | Argentina | Grandparent |
| Dario Chistolini | THP | South Africa | Parent |
| George Biagi | LO | Scotland | Parent |
| Dries van Schalkwyk | FL/N8 | South Africa | Residency (2015) |
| Sergio Parisse | N8 | Argentina | Parent |
| Braam Steyn | N8 | South Africa | Residency (2015) |
| Kelly Haimona | FH/CE | New Zealand | Residency (2014) |
| Gonzalo García | CE | Argentina | Grandparent |
| Luke McLean | FB | Australia | Grandparent |
IRELAND (9) Ireland’s policy of restricting places at Leinster, Munster, and Ulster for Irish-eligible players has had the knock-on effect of an increase in the number of so-called ‘project’ players who qualify, or will qualify, on residency. CJ Stander is the latest such player, increasing the number in Joe Schmidt’s roster since the World Cup, while French-born Ultan Dillane is set to win his first caps for the country of his mother, where he has resided since the age of seven. Kieran Marmion was born in England, grew up in Wales, and qualifies via his Irish parents.
| PLAYER | POS | PLACE OF BIRTH | ELIGIBILITY |
| Rob Herring | HO | South Africa | Grandparent |
| Richardt Strauss | HO | South Africa | Residency (2012) |
| Nathan White | THP | New Zealand | Residency (2014) |
| Mike McCarthy | LO | England | Parent |
| Ultan Dillane | LO | France | Parent |
| CJ Stander | FL/N8 | South Africa | Residency (2015) |
| Jamie Heaslip | N8 | Israel | Parent |
| Kieran Marmion | SH | England | Parent |
| Jared Payne | CE | New Zealand | Residency (2014) |
ENGLAND (8) Stuart Lancaster had three foreign born players on his World Cup roster. Two of them remain with the third one of a number of players dropped by new boss Eddie Jones. Having done wonders for Japan, a different challenge sees Jones having a long list of elite players from the 12 premiership teams to choose from. The Americas are represented by Marland Yarde, born in Castries, St. Lucia, who moved to England aged nine. Matt Kvesic and new cap Paul Hill were both born in Germany to English parents and returned to the UK at a young age. Kvesic also has Croatian and Polish heritage. Jack Clifford is another whose parents returned to England when he was young. His father is Kenyan and mother English. The suspension to Chris Ashton for foul play saw him replaced by Semesa Rokodugini.
| PLAYER | POS | PLACE OF BIRTH | ELIGIBILITY |
| Mako Vunipola | LHP | New Zealand | Residency (2008) |
| Dylan Hartley | HK | New Zealand | Parent |
| Paul Hill | THP | Germany | Parent |
| Matt Kvesic | FL | Germany | Parent |
| Jack Clifford | FL/N8 | Australia | Parent |
| Billy Vunipola | N8 | Australia | Residency (2008) |
| Semesa Rokoduguni | WG | Fiji | Residency (2010) |
| Marland Yarde | WG | St. Lucia | Residency (2004) |
FRANCE (4) New supremo Guy Novès has brought with him a change in philosophy and all but a pair of the 10 foreign-born players from the World Cup have been discarded. The newcomer on the roster is uncapped Fijian Virimi Vakatawa, who has gained a considerable following playing sevens for France. Sébastien Vaha’amahina was born in New Caledonia, a French territory in the South Pacific that could well become independent in the relatively near future. He was forced out, through inujury, replaced by Bernard Le Roux on January 25.
| PLAYER | POS | PLACE OF BIRTH | ELIGIBILITY |
| Uini Atonio | THP | New Zealand | Residency (2014) |
| Bernard Le Roux | FL | South Africa | Residency (2012) |
| Virimi Vakatawa | WG | Fiji | Residency (2013) |
| Scott Spedding | FB | South Africa | Residency (2011) |
