Something sucks about IRB Regulation 8. Governing international eligibility, it stipulates a player may represent a country in three ways, namely by dint of birth, lineage through a parent or grandparent, and residency for a minimum of three years.
The second route has been abused in the past but latterly the three-year ruling has been freely tapped into as a form of a delayed international “signing” from abroad and, like it or loath it, Irish rugby is now merrily leading the charge.
This has come sharply into focus this week by Joe Schmidt’s inclusion of South African-born and reared Robbie Diack and New Zealand-born and reared Rodney Ah You in the Irish match-day squad to face Argentina, making it entirely likely for the first time Ireland will blood two residency-qualified internationals on the same day.
Following on from Richardt Strauss, there will also be more where they come from, with the New Zealand pair of Nathan White and Jared Payne set to qualify for Ireland next season and the South African-born CJ Stander to do so after the 2015 World Cup, while Connacht’s latest project signing, Waikato Chiefs centre Bundee Aki, has declared his intention to play for Ireland.
Of course there is the risk of the Irish team’s Irish-ness being diluted and on foot of his retirement, Ronan O’Gara wasforthright in his book, Unguarded, when stating: “Three years is way too little. Even five is too little. Seven isn’t enough. It has to be 10 Non-negotiable. Deal or no deal.”
Schmidt, totally within reason, argues Regulation 8 is an issue for the game’s lawmakers, not him. Indeed, it would be something of a dereliction of duty on his part not to avail of Irish-qualified players. Nor would it make sense for the IRFU and the provinces to ignore the possibilities. As the song says, everyone else is doing it so why can’t we? Paul O’Connell has also said he has no issue with players qualifying by residency provided they add to the quality and strength in depth of the Irish squad.
What sticks in the craw is that exploitation of the regulation favours the wealthy over the poor. Clermont have an academy in Fiji while France has also increasingly begun to dip into its old colonial outposts, and no less than Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England, France and Italy also target players in the Southern Hemisphere, mostly South Africans or from the Pacific Islands.
Outcry
The signing of Aki has led to an outcry in New Zealand, whose union chief executive Steve Tew apparently regularly berates his Irish counterpart, Philip Browne, for poaching their players. Aki’s departure also prompted All Blacks coach Steve Hansen to remark: “It is frustrating and it is disappointing. Players here have a dream of playing for the All Blacks and then they suddenly give it up when an easier option comes along. It’s not their dream but they decide to go for it and I think we need players with a bit more mental fortitude: a bit more of a constitution to dig in harder and fight for the dream they really want.”