Foreign-Born / Produced Players in 2022 Six Nations

The 2022 Six Nations Championship is the 23rd edition of the competition since expanding to include Italy in 2000. It was originally conceived as the Home Nations Championship and first contested by England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales in 1883. France joined in 1910 to create the Five Nations Championship.

Eligibility laws at international level have long been a topic of debate and discussion, and have recently been brought under the spotlight by controversial changes made last year that means players are no longer bound to one country. It’s not the first time this has been the case, but the previous allowance was exploited and the practice subsequently ended in 2000, limiting players to representing only one nation at senior international level.

The new Union Transfer regulation goes somewhat against the trend of revisions made in May of 2017 that tightened eligibility by extending the consecutive residency requirement from three to five years. A new clause also allowed for players to qualify via cumulative residency of 10 years. Those changes were scheduled to begin on January 1, 2021, but World Rugby subsequently delayed the change by one year.

This article documents players that qualify to represent a country that they were not born in, and how they do so under World Rugby Regulations. It also attempts to identify, with the best available information, where players were developed prior to their senior careers. In some cases players were born in another country but developed in the nation they are representing, in others developed elsewhere but qualifying due to place of birth. The focus below will be primarily on new selections and how they qualify.

It should be noted that there are players born in the Americas involved in the Six Nations. There are also players with family connections that, under the new Union Transfer regulation, could re-qualify to play for Americas teams in the future after observing a three-year stand-down period.

There were 59 foreign-born players in the 2021 Six Nations. The player rosters for the 2022 competition number have a total of 73 foreign-born players.

 

This is an original work researched and written by Americas Rugby News.

 

SCOTLAND (27)

27 out of 73 foreign-born players in the Six Nations squads are on the Scotland roster. Two can be classified as being homegrown. Rufus McLean and Kyle Rowe moved to Scotland as children. Rowe qualifies via 10 years aggregate residency. McLean was born in Boston to Scottish parents.

Ewan Ashman was born in Toronto and lived there until moving to England at the age of four. His father is Scottish and mother English.

Newcomer Ben White played for England against the Barbarians in a non-capped match in 2019. Wales’ Callum Sheedy and Jonny Williams played in the same match for England. Andy Christie previously represented Scotland u16s before switching to England at u18 and u20 level.

PLAYER	POS	BORN IN	TRAINED IN	ELIGIBILITY	OTHER REP.
Allan Dell	LH	South Africa	South Africa	Grandparent	South Africa u20
Oli Kebble	LH	South Africa	South Africa	Residency (2020)	South Africa u20
Pierre Schoeman	LH	South Africa	South Africa	Residency (2021)	South Africa u18, u20
Ewan Ashman	HO	Canada	England	Parent	–
Simon Berghan	TH	New Zealand	New Zealand	Grandparent	–
Willem Nel	TH	South Africa	South Africa	Residency (2015)	–
Javan Sebastian	TH	Wales	Wales	Parent	Wales u16, u18
Sam Skinner	LO	England	England	Parent	England u20
Marshall Sykes	LO	England	England	Grandparent	–
Andy Christie	FL	England	England	Grandparent	England u18, u20
Hamish Watson	FL	England	England	Grandparent	–
Josh Bayliss	N8	England	England	Grandparent	England u20
Nick Haining	N8	Australia	Australia	Grandparent	–
Ali Price	SH	England	England	Parent	–
Ben Vellacott	SH	England	England	Parent	–
Ben White	SH	England	England	Grandparent	England u20, XV
Chris Harris	CE	England	England	Grandparent	England Counties
Rory Hutchinson	CE	England	England	Grandparent	–
Sam Johnson	CE	Australia	Australia	Residency (2018)	Australia Schools
James Lang	CE	England	England	Grandparent	–
Cameron Redpath	CE	France	England	Parent	England u19, u20
Sione Tuipulotu	CE	Australia	Australia	Grandparent	Australia Schools, u20
Rufus McLean	WI	USA	Scotland	Parent	–
Sean Maitland	WI	New Zealand	New Zealand	Grandparent	New Zealand u19, u20, Māori
Kyle Steyn	WI	South Africa	South Africa	Parent	–
Duhan van der Merwe	WI	South Africa	South Africa	Residency (2020)	South Africa Schools, u20
Kyle Rowe	FB	England	Scotland	Cumulative Residency	–

 

ITALY (14)

Cherif Traoré moved to Italy aged 7. Ion Neculai did so aged 2. All others qualifying on residency did so as adults for the purpose of playing professional rugby.

Ivan Nemer and Juan Ignacio Brex arrived in Italy as adults to play professional rugby. Nemer memorably cried during the Argentine national anthem in Italy’s home match against Los Pumas in November 2021. Brex used the ‘Olympic loophole’ to change his allegiance from Argentina to Italy.

Ange Capuozzo was born and raised in Grenoble, France, and advanced to their senior professional club side. He has previously represented Italy at u20 level.

Hame Faiva and Toa Halafihi are New Zealanders who played in Super Rugby for the Blues and Hurricanes respectively. Halafihi has the distinction of being one of the last players to qualify under the three-year residency law, with Italy arranging an ‘A’ match against Romania in December specifically to capture him before the January 1 cut-off date.

PLAYER	POS	BORN IN	TRAINED IN	ELIGIBILITY	OTHER REP.
Cherif Traoré	LH	Guinea	Italy	Residency (2004)	–
Ivan Nemer	LH	Argentina	Argentina	Grandparent	Argentina u18, u20
Hame Faiva	HK	New Zealand	New Zealand	Residency (2020)	New Zealand u20
Ion Neculai	TH	Moldova	Italy	Residency (2006)	–
David Sisi	LO	Germany	England	Parent	England u20
Sebastian Negri	FL	Zimbabwe	South Africa	Parent	–
Braam Steyn	FL	South Africa	South Africa	Residency (2015)	South Africa u20
Toa Halafihi	N8	New Zealand	New Zealand	Residency (2021)	–
Callum Braley	SH	England	England	Grandparent	England u16, u18, u20
Stephen Varney	SH	Wales	Wales	Parent	–
Juan Ignacio Brex	CE	Argentina	Argentina	Grandparent	Argentina u19, u20, 7s, XV
Monty Ioane	WI	Australia	Australia	Residency (2020)	–
Iliesa Ratuva Tavuyara	WI	Fiji	Fiji	Residency (2021)	–
Ange Capuozzo	FB	France	France	Parent	–

 

WALES (13)

Four players – Ben Carter, Jonathan Davies, Taulupe Faletau and Christ Tshiunza – went through the Welsh system. Ben Carter moved to Wales two weeks after he was born and Christ Tshiunza moved to Wales aged 10. He was born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, to French parents.

The other foreign-born players were produced outside of Wales. Gareth Anscombe, Willis Halaholo, and Johnny McNicholl were signed as professionals from Super Rugby teams in New Zealand. Anscombe’s father Mark Anscombe was Head Coach of Canada from March 2016 to August 2017.

PLAYER	POS	BORN IN	TRAINED IN	ELIGIBILITY	OTHER REP.
Bradley Roberts	HO	South Africa	South Africa	Grandparent	–
Tomas Francis	TH	England	England	Grandparent	–
Ben Carter	LO	England	Wales	Residency (2004)	–
Will Rowlands	LO	England	England	Parent	–
Christ Tshiunza	LO	DR Congo	Wales	Residency (2015)	–
Taulupe Faletau	N8	Tonga	Wales	Residency (2001)	–
Ross Moriarty	N8	England	England	Parent	England u18, u20
Gareth Anscombe	FH	New Zealand	New Zealand	Parent	New Zealand u20
Jonathan Davies	CE	England	Wales	Parent	–
Willis Halaholo	CE	New Zealand	New Zealand	Residency (2019)	New Zealand Schools Tonga u20
Nick Tompkins	CE	England	England	Grandparent	England u18, u20, Saxons
Alex Cuthbert	WI	England	England	Parent	–
Johnny McNicholl	WI	New Zealand	New Zealand	Residency (2019)	–

 

IRELAND (9)

Joey Carbery and Jeremy Loughman were born in New Zealand and Nevada respectively but moved to Ireland as children and went through the Irish age-grade system. The other seven foreign-born players were primarily produced elsewhere.

Mack Hansen was signed from Australia and previously represented their national u20 side. He qualified immediately for Ireland through his mother, who was born in County Cork and moved to Australia at age 7. Jamison Gibson-Park and James Lowe played at senior level for New Zealand Māori. Both signed for Leinster from Super Rugby.

Tom O’Toole was born in Ireland but moved to Australia aged 6 and went through the Australian system playing for Queensland Schoolboys.

PLAYER	POS	BORN IN	TRAINED IN	ELIGIBILITY	OTHER REP.
Jeremy Loughman	LH	USA	Ireland	Residency (2002)	–
Rob Herring	HO	South Africa	South Africa	Grandparent	–
Finlay Bealham	TH	Australia	Australia	Grandparent	Australia Schools
Kieran Treadwell	LO	England	England	Parent	England u20
Jamison Gibson-Park	SH	New Zealand	New Zealand	Residency (2020)	New Zealand Māori
Joey Carbery	FH	New Zealand	Ireland	Parent	–
Bundee Aki	CE	New Zealand	New Zealand	Residency (2017)	–
Mack Hansen	WI	Australia	Australia	Parent	Australia u20
James Lowe	WI	New Zealand	New Zealand	Residency (2020)	New Zealand Māori, Schools, u15 Basketball

 

ENGLAND (6)

England’s foreign-born players all went through the English system. Marcus Smith first played rugby in Singapore and moved to England aged 13. Sam Underhill is Ohio-born and could therefore play for the Eagles eventually. Nic Dolly moved to England comparatively late but just early enough to play for England u18s.

Manu Tuilagi’s brothers Freddie, Henry, Alesana, Anitelea, and Vavae all played for Samoa where they were born and raised. Unlike them, Manu was raised in England though in 2010 he faced deportation for having entered the UK on a tourist visa and subsequently overstaying.

Bevan Rodd left Scotland when he was nine months old. He grew up in Dubai, the Isle of Man, and North West England, and represented England at u16, u18 and u20 levels.

Louis Lynagh played for England at age-grade levels following his move from Italy as a preschooler. He has notably been the subject of an eligibility tug-of-war as he not only qualifies for Italy but also Australia through his father Michael Lynagh, the all-time points-scoring leader for the Wallabies.

PLAYER	POS	BORN IN	TRAINED IN	ELIGIBILITY	OTHER REP.
Bevan Rodd	LH	Scotland	England	Parent	–
Nic Dolly	HK	Australia	England	Parent	–
Sam Underhill	FL	USA	England	Parent	–
Marcus Smith	FH	Philippines	England	Parent	–
Manu Tuilagi	CE	Samoa	England	Residency (2007)	–
Louis Lynagh	WI	Italy	England	Residency (2007)	–

 

FRANCE (4)

All four players born abroad arrived in France as adults for the purposes of playing professional rugby. Uini Atonio and Paul Willemse played in the Junior World Championship for Samoa and South Africa respectively. Virimi Vakatawa moved to Fiji as a child and began playing rugby there aged 9.

The roster contains two players from French territories in the South Pacific. Hooker Peato Mauvaka was born in New Caledonia and center Yoram Moefana is from Wallis-et-Futuna. They moved to France at the ages of 15 and 13 respectively.

Second row Thibaud Flament has a connection to the Americas. He played for Newman in Buenos Aires in 2017-2018. Flament was born in Paris but moved to Belgium at age 3.

It should be noted that in order to play for France players must carry a French passport. This is unique to France; the other five have no such requirement.

PLAYER	POS	BORN IN	TRAINED IN	ELIGIBILITY	OTHER REP.
Uini Atonio	TH	New Zealand	New Zealand	Residency (2014)	Samoa u20
Bernard le Roux	LO	South Africa	South Africa	Residency (2012)	–
Paul Willemse	LO	South Africa	Namibia	Residency (2018)	Namibia u18 South Africa u20
Virimi Vakatawa	CE	New Zealand	Fiji	Residency (2013)	Fiji u19