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Despite pandemic concerns the Six Nations will go ahead as planned. One of the topics that continues to be a point of discussion around the tournament is player eligibility, with a handful of new residency captures taking the field during the Autumn Nations Cup.
Players obtain eligibility by meeting Regulation 8 as outlined by World Rugby. This can be achieved in one of three ways: (a) country of birth; (b) country where one parent or grandparent was born; or (c) complete 3 years of consecutive residency immediately before representative duty.
World Rugby opted to revise Regulation 8 in May of 2017, extended the consecutive residency requirement from three to five years. This was set to begin on January 1, 2021, but World Rugby unilaterally decided to delay the change by one year citing disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This article attempts to identify the qualifications of players not born in the country they are representing, and the youth system in which they were developed. The latter adds context for the many players who moved to their home nation as a child.
It should also be noted that there are many examples of players who qualify for a nation they may have no affiliation with other than having been born there. Cameron Redpath, for example, was born in France while his father was on a professional contract but moved to England before the age of one.
There were 129 Foreign-Born players at RWC 2015. The number increased to 144 for RWC 2019.
SCOTLAND (23)
Duncan Taylor was schooled in multiple countries including Scotland. Rob Harley and Rufus McLean were schooled in Scotland. None of the remaining 20 foreign-born players were produced by Scottish rugby. Newcomer Ewan Ashman was born in Toronto and grew up near Manchester. His father is Scottish. Oli Kebble’s father was a Springbok. Cameron Redpath was on England’s roster to tour South Africa in 2018. He missed out through injury. His father Bryan captained Scotland.
| PLAYER | POS. | BIRTH COUNTRY | ELIGIBLITY | OTHER REP. |
| Allan Dell | LH | South Africa | Grandparent | South Africa u20 |
| Oli Kebble | LH | South Africa | Residency (2020) | South Africa u20 |
| Ewan Ashman | HO | Canada | Parent | – |
| Simon Berghan | TH | New Zealand | Grandparent | – |
| Willem Nel | TH | South Africa | Residency (2015) | – |
| Rob Harley | LO/FL | England | Parent | |
| Sam Skinner | LO | England | Parent | England u20 |
| Josh Bayliss | FL | England | Grandparent | England u20 |
| Cornell du Preez | FL | South Africa | Residency (2016) | South Africa u20 |
| Hamish Watson | FL | England | Grandparent | – |
| Nick Haining | N8 | Australia | Grandparent | – |
| Blade Thomson | N8 | New Zealand | Grandparent | New Zealand u20; New Zealand Māori |
| Ali Price | SH | England | Parent | – |
| Jaco van der Walt | FH | South Africa | Residency (2020) | South Africa u18 |
| Chris Harris | CE | England | Grandparent | England Counties |
| Sam Johnson | CE | Australia | Residency (2018) | Australia Schoolboys |
| James Lang | CE | England | Grandparent | – |
| Cameron Redpath | CE | France | Parent | England u20 |
| Duncan Taylor | CE | England | Parent | – |
| Byron McGuigan | WI | Namibia | Parent | – |
| Sean Maitland | WI | New Zealand | Grandparent | New Zealand Māori; New Zealand Schools; New Zealand u19; New Zealand u20 |
| Duhan van der Merwe | WI | South Africa | Residency (2020) | South Africa Schools; South Africa u20 |
| Rufus McLean | FB | USA | Parent | – |
WALES (12)
Hallam Amos, Jonathan Davies, Dan Lydiate, George North, Josh Macleod, and Taulupe Faletau all came through the Welsh system. Tomas Francis, Jake Ball, Will Rowlands, Willis Haloholo, Nick Tompkins, and Johnny Williams were primarily produced outside Wales. Johnny Williams played for England vs the Barbarians in an un-capped and non-capturing match. Taulupe Faletau’s father played at RWC 1999 for Tonga.
| PLAYER | POS. | BIRTH COUNTRY | ELIGIBILITY | OTHER REP. |
| Tomas Francis | TH | England | Grandparent | – |
| Jake Ball | LO | England | Parent | – |
| Will Rowlands | LO | England | Parent | – |
| Dan Lydiate | FL | England | Parent | – |
| Josh Macleod | FL | Monaco | Residency (2004) | – |
| Taulupe Faletau | N8 | Tonga | Residency (2001) | – |
| Jonathan Davies | CE | England | Parent | – |
| Willis Haloholo | CE | New Zealand | Residency (2019) | New Zealand Schools; Tonga u20 |
| Nick Tompkins | CE | England | Grandparent | England u18; England u20; England Saxons |
| Johnny Williams | CE | England | Parent | England u20; England |
| Hallam Amos | WI | England | Residency (2004) | – |
| George North | WI | England | Parent | – |
ITALY (10)
Three of the five qualifying via residency moved to Italy as children. They are Cristian Stoian, Marco Manfredi and Cherif Traoré. All played for Italy at junior levels. Johan Meyer and Monty Ioane arrived from South Africa and Australia respectively as professionals. None of the five who qualify via ancestry are Italian rugby products. Three of them played representative rugby for the unions that they learned their rugby. Stephen Varney is an exception having played for Italy u20. Juan Ignacio Brex used the ‘Olympic loophole’ to change his allegiance from Argentina to Italy. He has already played for Italy 7s.
| PLAYER | POS. | BIRTH COUNTRY | ELIGIBILITY | OTHER REP. |
| Cherif Traoré | LH | Guinea | Residency (2004) | – |
| Marco Manfredi | HO | Germany | Parent | – |
| David Sisi | LO | Germany | Parent | England u20 |
| Cristian Stoian | LO | Moldova | Residency (2005) | – |
| Johan Meyer | FL | South Africa | Residency (2018) | – |
| Sebastian Negri | FL | Zimbabwe | Parent | – |
| Callum Braley | SH | England | Grandparent | England u16; England u18; England u20 |
| Stephen Varney | SH | Wales | Parent | – |
| Juan Ignacio Brex | CE | Argentina | Grandparent | Argentina u19; Argentina u20; Argentina XV; Argentina 7s |
| Monty Ioane | WI | Australia | Residency (2020) | – |
IRELAND (8)
Ultan Dillane moved to Ireland as a child. The rest did so on professional contracts. Billy Burns and Rob Herring were able to immediately represent Ireland due to ancestry. The five others qualified via residency. CJ Stander captained South Africa at the Junior World Championship. James Lowe started for the Māori against the British & Irish Lions in 2017.
| PLAYER | POS. | BIRTH COUNTRY | ELIGIBILITY | OTHER REP. |
| Rob Herring | HO | South Africa | Grandparent | – |
| Ultan Dillane | LO | France | Parent | – |
| Quinn Roux | LO | South Africa | Residency (2015) | – |
| CJ Stander | FL | South Africa | Residency (2016) | South Africa u18; South Africa u20 |
| Jamison Gibson-Park | SH | New Zealand | Residency (2019) | New Zealand Māori |
| Billy Burns | FH | England | Grandparent | England u18, England u20 |
| Bundee Aki | CE | New Zealand | Residency (2017) | – |
| James Lowe | WI | New Zealand | Residency (2020) | New Zealand Māori; New Zealand Schools; New Zealand u15 Basketball |
FRANCE (4)
France requires all players to carry a French passport. This is unique in the Six Nations. All players born abroad arrived in France as adults. Uini Atonio was born and raised in New Zealand. He played u20s for Samoa due to having a Samoan parent. Paul Willemse was a 2012 Junior World Championship winner with South Africa. New Zealand born Virimi Vakatawa moved to Fiji as a child and began playing rugby there aged 9. There are also two players from French territories in the South Pacific. Hooker Peato Mauvaka was born in New Caledonia and Yoram Moefana is from Wallis-et-Futuna. They moved to France aged and 15 and 13 respectively.
| PLAYER | POS. | BIRTH COUNTRY | ELIGIBILITY | OTHER REP. |
| Uini Atonio | TH | New Zealand | Residency (2014) | Samoa u20 |
| Bernard le Roux | LO | South Africa | Residency (2012) | – |
| Paul Willemse | LO | South Africa | Residency (2018) | Namibia u18; South Africa u20 |
| Virimi Vakatawa | CE | New Zealand | Residency (2013) | Fiji u19 |
ENGLAND (2)
Billy and Mako Vunipola qualify for England via residency. Born in Australia and New Zealand to Tongan parents, they moved to Wales at the ages of 5 an 6 in 1998 and then to England in 2005.
| PLAYER | POS. | BIRTH COUNTRY | ELIGIBILITY | OTHER REP. |
| Mako Vunipola | LH | New Zealand | Residency (2008) | – |
| Billy Vunipola | N8 | Australia | Residency (2008) | – |
