UNDER the current World Rugby regulations, if a person lives in this country, or any country for that matter, for three years, they are eligible to play for that country on the international stage. That is the rule. I don’t like the rule, but that is the rule.
So what has baffled me in recent weeks is that certain members of the media have decided to have a cut off of CJ Stander for being allowed to play for Ireland. What is the basis for this? It is a rule, the IRFU have not broken it, so where is the issue? If the people who wrote about this (from other sporting backgrounds) concentrated more on their own chosen sport’s indiscretions, then it would be of more interest to all.
On the rule itself, it would be remiss of me to write a column and not give my own judgement. I would hate to think, that today, somewhere in the southern hemisphere, there is a person putting on their boots who has more of a chance to play for Ireland than someone from Limerick. That, I cannot agree with, but them’s the rules.
