Leading Coach Slams 3-Year Residency as Misuse of Rules

Argentine Head Coach Daniel Hourcade has slammed World Rugby’s 3-year residency rule. The man who took Argentina to fourth in a world a year ago has spoken out against what he deems to the be “misuse” of laws.

It follows the confirmation that World Rugby will be setting up an Executive Committee to review eligibility laws. By taking advantage of the laws, teams have been able to boost their stocks simply by bringing in an uncapped star from abroad and having him play for three years for a local professional team.

Knowing full well the laws, Scotland bought in WP Nel and Josh Strauss after Rugby World Cup 2011. Both were eligible for Scotland at Rugby World Cup 2015. The latter of the two only became eligible one week before the start of the tournament.

The purchasing of foreign talent has been common. So much so that Scotland is far from being the lone abuser. Ireland legend Brian O’Driscoll’s replacement was New Zealander Jared Payne. CJ Stander and Quinn Roux now also both play for Ireland. Sefanaia Naivalu is playing for Australia, Braam Steyn and Dries van Schalkwyk are doing so for Italy and England recently acquired Nathan Hughes.

Hourcade told the Guardian “But if players qualify on residency there should be a strong relation between the player and the country. There should not be any misuse by the country for their own advantage.”

“We have seen that from one World Cup to another World Cup, players representing different countries. But I think they have to show there is a strong relation between that player and that country to be selected. It’s difficult to understand that some countries with one million players have to go after players from other countries.”

Close to one-quarter of all players at Rugby World Cup 2015 were playing for a country they were not born in.