Foreign-Born Players in 2018 Six Nations

The hot topic of foreign-born players returns. The upcoming 2018 Six Nations Championship will see the finest European teams battling it out in the annual competition.

The topic in question is hugely popular as people both criticize and defend the use of players from abroad. The extent, though, in which some countries have been utilizing the system to nationalize talent over three years saw World Rugby take action in 2017, setting new regulations which, from 2020, require players to have five years of consecutive residency or 10 years of cumulative residency.

At Rugby World Cup 2015 19 of the 20 countries had foreign-born players. Some of the Six Nations’ unions were high on the list. Foreign-born player numbers have fluctuated per country since then. Changes to roster personal for the upcoming edition are reflected below.

All told, the 2018 Six Nations will have a grand total of 21 nations represented. The Americas contributes to this list through Argentina, Canada, and the USA. No continent is absent.

The Celtic nations each have players born in England. In total 17 English players will play for other nations. The next highest producers, by birth, are New Zealand with 13 players selected.

For a complete list of foreign-born players in the 2016 Six Nations click here.

For a complete list of foreign-born players in the 2017 Six Nations click here.

 

SCOTLAND (23)
The country with the most foreign-born players in the 2018 Six Nations is Scotland. Gregor Townsend’s roster of 40 players initially featured 19 from abroad.  This represented an increase from 14 in 2016 and 18 in 2017. Of note is that seven players qualify via a Grandparent. With only two fully professional franchises and a limited pool of exiles to draw from, Scottish rugby continues to cast its net as widely as possible in the search for eligible talent. In mid-February 2018 Townsend called-up additional players born abroad – W.P. Nel, Josh Strauss, Tim Swinson, and Tim Visser.

PLAYER	POS	PLACE OF BIRTH	ELIGIBILITY
Simon Berghan	TH	New Zealand	Grandparent
WP. Nel	TH	South Africa	Residency (2015)
Tim Swinson	LO	England	Parent
Ben Toolis	LO	Australia	Parent
John Barclay	FL	Hong Kong	Parent
Luke Hamilton	FL	Wales	Parent
Rob Harley	FL	England	Parent
Hamish Watson	FL	England	Grandparent
Ryan Wilson	FL	England	Grandparent
David Denton	N8	Zimbabwe	Parent
Cornell du Preez	N8	South Africa	Residency (2016)
Josh Strauss	N8	South Africa	Residency (2015)
Nathan Fowles	SH	England	Grandparent
Ali Price	SH	England	Parent
Henry Pyrgos	SH	England	Parent
Nick Grigg	CE	New Zealand	Grandparent
Chris Harris	CE	England	Grandparent
Duncan Taylor	CE	England	Parent
Sean Maitland	WI	New Zealand	Grandparent
Byron McGuigan	WI	Namibia	Parent
Tommy Seymour	WI	USA	Parent
Tim Visser	WI	Netherlands	Residency (2013)
Ruaridh Jackson	FB	England	Parent

ENGLAND (11)
Former Head Coach Stuart Lancaster had three foreign born players on his World Cup roster. Eddie Jones immediately made personal changes in 2016 and this has continued until 2018. The RFU firmly backs the change to five years residency despite instances such as Nathan Hughes. Ben Te’o and Denny Solomona played rugby league for Samoa in 2008 and 2016 respectively. The trio of Sam Underhill, Nathan Earle and Marcus Smith were raised in England.

Gary Graham is an interesting case. His father is former Scotland prop George Graham who was living in Carlisle, England, at the time of Gary’s birth and drove over the border to ensure his son was born in Scotland. Gary himself represented Scotland at u20 level and under the old regulations would not have qualified for England after moving to Scotland to play for Gala. Should he be capped he will be the first player to do so under the new 10-year cumulative residency regulation.

PLAYER	POS	PLACE OF BIRTH	ELIGIBILITY
Alec Hepburn	LH	Australia	Parent
Mako Vunipola	LH	New Zealand	Residency (2008)
Dylan Hartley	HO	New Zealand	Parent
Don Armand	FL	Zimbabwe	Grandparent
Gary Graham	FL	Scotland	Residency (2003)
Sam Underhill	FL	USA	Parent
Nathan Hughes	No 8	Fiji	Residency (2016)
Marcus Smith	FH	Philippines	Parent
Ben Te’o	CE	New Zealand	Parent
Nathan Earle	WI	Hong Kong	Parent
Denny Solomona	WI	New Zealand	Residency (2017)

 

IRELAND (9)
Ireland’s policy of restricting places in their provincial sides for Irish-eligible players has had the knock-on effect of an increase in the number of  ‘project players’, meaning imports who qualify, or will qualify, on residency. World Rugby’s change from three to five years residency may see that stance altered.

CJ Stander and Bundee Aki were both officially targeted by Ireland as uncapped in their native countries who could play for Ireland. The overall number of foreign-born players has increased from six in the 2017 Six Nations to nine for the 2018 tournament.

PLAYER	POS	PLACE OF BIRTH	ELIGIBILITY
Rob Herring	HO	South Africa	Grandparent
Ultan Dillane	LO	France	Parent
Quinn Roux	LO	South Africa	Residency (2015)
Jordi Murphy	FL	Spain	Parent
CJ Stander	N8	South Africa	Residency (2015)
Kieran Marmion	SH	England	Parent
Luke McGrath	SH	Canada	Parent
Joey Carbery	FH	New Zealand	Parent
Bundee Aki	CE	New Zealand	Residency (2017)

 

WALES (9)
The Welsh roster for the 2016 Six Nations tournament included 13 foreign-born players, in 2017 it was 10. For this year the number has fallen one more to nine. Hallam Amos, Taulupe Faletau, George North and Aaron Shingler all grew up in Wales, having moved there as children.

Ross Moriarty played for England u20’s before being called up to follow in his father’s footsteps to play for Wales. Gareth Anscombe played for New Zealand u20’s and is the son of former Canada coach Mark Anscombe. His mother is from Cardiff, Wales. Hadleigh Parkes debuted on the same day that he completed three-years eligibility.

PLAYER	POS	PLACE OF BIRTH	ELIGIBILITY
Tomas Francis	TH	England	Grandparent
Aaron Shingler	FL	England	Residency (1992)
Ross Moriarty	FL	England	Parent
Taulupe Faletau	N8	Tonga	Residency (2001)
Gareth Anscombe	FH	New Zealand	Parent
Hadleigh Parkes	CE	New Zealand	Residency (2017)
Hallam Amos	WI	England	Residency (2001)
Alex Cuthbert	WI	England	Parent
George North	WI	England	Parent

 

ITALY (8)
Jacques Brunel coached Italy in the 2016 Six Nations. He had 10 players born abroad. In both 2017 and 2018 his replacement, Conor O’Shea selected 8. For the 2018 competition O’Shea has been forced to play without Ornel Gega. Selection, meanwhile, sees Joshua Furno and Luke McLean overlooked. The Argentine-Italian Sergio Parisse continues to captain the team. Often criticized as failing to produce home-grown talent, Italy is fielding fewer players from abroad than many rivals.

PLAYER	POS	PLACE OF BIRTH	ELIGIBILITY
George Biagi	LO	Scotland	Parent
Dean Budd	LO	New Zealand	Residency (2015)
Sebastian Negri	FL	Zimbabwe	Parent
Jake Polledri	FL	England	Grandparent
Braam Steyn	FL	South Africa	Residency (2015)
Sergio Parisse	N8	Argentina	Parent
Ian McKinley	FH	Ireland	Residency (2017)
Jayden Hayward	FB	New Zealand	Residency (2017)

 

FRANCE (3)
Philippe Saint-André took 10 foreign-born players to RWC 2015. Guy Novès had four a year ago while new coach Jacques Brunel named three in his squad. Newcomer Cedate Gomes Sa left his native Guinea-Bissau aged 10 to live in Portugal and then aged 12 he moved to France. Dany Priso arrived in France at age 11 from Cameroon.

Sébastien Vaha’amahina was born in New Caledonia, a French territory in the South Pacific that could well become independent in the relatively near future. None of Saint-André’s 10 foreign-born players have been selected by Brunel. Fijian Virimi Vakatawa is into his third Six Nations campaign.

PLAYER	POS	PLACE OF BIRTH	ELIGIBILITY
Dany Priso	LH	Cameroon	Residency (2008)
Cedate Gomes Sa	TH	Guinea-Bissau	Residency (2008)
Virimi Vakatawa	WI	Fiji	Residency (2013)