We received this email recently from Roger Levey who argues that the quality of world rugby would be improved with a broader representation policy. His argument is below. Interested to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment below.
Says Roger Levey: ‘Very few countries have a realistic chance of winning the Rugby World Cup. The top five or maybe six is a virtual given. The initial over riding interest amongst the top teams is whether or not they will make the final four and who will miss out on the semis. In the eyes of both the sporting public and all participating nations outside of the top six, who don’t have a chance, the World Cup is seen primarily as a wonderful rugby carnival. Here is an idea that could both broaden the the interest and also raise the standard of play in smaller rugby nations.
Once a country has selected its squad, any player who did not make the cut should be permitted to play for another country providing they have parental or family links to that country. In other words an Australian player (either born here or naturalised) whose parents came from say Fiji, should be permitted to play for Fiji without jeopardising his right to be selected to play for Australia in the future.
If Australia, or any other nation, could not fit a player into its World Cup squad, then that player should be permitted to play for the country either he or his parents came from if he was good enough. This would be a positive way of assisting the Pacific Island nations whilst at the same time creating huge public interest. It could arguably raise the standard of many games to the point fringe teams would be more competitive.
Just imagine the amount of players in New Zealand willing to help other countries. Maybe there are players in the UK of Canadian or European heritage. The IRB should redefine its citizenship guidelines for players able to represent a country. In any event this subject should make for some interesting discussion’.
Zac Zavos
Editor
I would like to see . . . All playing contracts drawn up that effect 2010 and onwards will not be able to prevent players from representing their national team. Clubs have 3 years to ensure that they can control their financial situations (probably offer less money) and international teams would have their top players available for 18 months to work up for the world cup. If the iRB takes the lead on this, then the game of rugby union, which they control globally, will help those who do not have the same as everyone else.
Roger Levey
Guest
I cant disagree with Barry, but in 'the spirit of things', some countries might welcome help. from one or two players , however the idea would need to be warmly embraced..An area that comes to mind where my idea could be implimented , stems froms the practice of one country signing up a talented youngster from another country , paying for the boys education ,offering citezenship,giving him one or two runs in a National side , automaticly precluding that player from representing his country of birth if he doesnt make the grade in his adopted country.Ok ,giving such a player the option of representing his country of birth after he failed to make the World Cup squad is not realistic considering Ruby is really a multi million dollar business,but in my mind is most realistic considering Rugby is really a game..
Barry Randall
Guest
I think the point raised by Roger is a valid one but it has to also be looked at from the other side. This idea can be detrimental to the players who live and play in a particular country, who may not be as good as the 'left overs'. Take Canada as an example. Imagine a born and bred Canuk and a quality player who is playing at a high/senior level and vying for the National team missing out on selection because a few kiwi's or aussies etc with Canadian ancestry get a look in before him. That is when this type of situation would be a real disadvantage to the guys from developing countries and extremely dissapointing to be beaten out by 'ring ins'. There has been criticism for some years now about the number of international players playing in the English Super League that fill positions that could be taken by English players. Guys coming through grass roots footy in the English system often find it hard to crack into the national comp, because of the abundance of quality of overseas players. I think there would have to be certain rules in place to ensure it was done properly if Roger's idea was to be given a go. If you stack the fringe teams with too many 'ring ins', it will have a very negative long term effect on the game.