Summary
- World Rugby makes changes to official rules
- Players will now be able to represent different countries
- Minimum lay-off period limited to just 3 years
It is the dream of every rugby player to get selected for the national team and represent their country at the highest level.
Now, rugby players will have the option of playing and representing more than one country should they want to.
World Rugby has decided to make some significant changes to rugby rules and as a result, players will now be able to play for one country, stand down for a period of three years and then come back and play for another country. The rules were changed after 75 percent of the council votes in World Rugby were cast in favour of changing the rules so that a player has the opportunity to play for more than one country during their career.
These rules come into play from Jan 2022 and will allow a player to switch to another country that their grandparents or parents were born in. They will have to live there for a period of three years before being eligible to represent the new country and play rugby. The rule changes will allow a player to change their country and play rugby only once!
RugbyItch
Current World Rugby rules allow players to only represent one country once they have received a national cap. World Rugby said they decided to proceed with the rule change as they believe it will benefit more players and increase the competitive strength of different teams.
Not everyone was happy with the decision from World Rugby as some view it as being disloyal when you switch allegiance. Global Rugby Players Union supported the move from World Rugby and said the support from rugby players worldwide for the new rule change was unanimous. Global Rugby Players Union has worked behind the scenes for many years to push for these rule change and was happy to see it finally carried out.
These changes could cause a lot of unrest going forward as top rugby players who fail to make the All Blacks squad for example could switch to a new country such as Ireland, Samoa or Tonga and then compete against the All Blacks. If a country like Samoa end up beating the All Blacks with five Kiwi players in their squad, it might end up causing unrest with both players and fans.
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