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Spain are set to select Mathieu Belie, according to Revista 22. In a remarkable series of events, a player officially not eligible for Spain in 2018 now is; yet, it is through ancestry and not residency. Spain were disqualified from the RWC 2019 qualifiers for fielding ineligible players.
ARN was at the forefront of arguing an appeal in favor of Spain; there was a case for Spain to be cleared of wrongdoing during the RWC 2019 qualifiers.
Spain were disqualified from RWC 2019 because Mathieu Bélie and Bastien Fuster played for Los Leones in qualifying matches. Both players were deemed not eligible because they had played for France u20 against Wales u20 in 2008 and 2012. The lack of an ‘A’ team at senior level meant these matches were capturing, yet Spain were not informed of this.
The timing was horrific as Bilbao was hosting the European Champions Cup Final while World Rugby was deciding what to do for the breach of eligibility laws. The end result was Spain and Romania were disqualified and Russia thus played at RWC 2019.
During his time as World Rugby vice chairman Agustín Pichot pushed hard to tighten player eligibility laws. There were multiple instances of players who had played u20s for one country who were permitted to play for another at test level. Gareth Anscombe and Ross Moriarty had great success with New Zealand u20s and England u20s respectively. Both have played in RWCs for Wales.
Pichot was pivotal in World Rugby altering the laws to have them tightened. It saw residency changed from 3 to 5 years. Another change meant that U20s were no longer capturing; notwithstanding, Spain and Romania’s disqualification followed as did Tahiti’s and Belgium’s.
The former Pumas captain ran for election in 202o. He was close to winning but old heads prevailed as Bill Beaumont was elected to a second term. The option for status quo rather than change won. Pichot played professional rugby in different countries and played in four World Cups. Beaumont played in the amateur era.
The outcome of that election has reshaped player eligibility. In 2021 World Rugby voted in favor of not tightening but loosening player eligibility laws. The changes enable players previously capped by one country to change to compete for another. The Pacific Rugby Players Welfare (PRPW) was heavily involved in the process. The changes benefit the Pacific Islands, specifically Samoa and Tonga.
The new laws mean players including All Blacks and Wallabies can now play for Samoa and Tonga if they were born in the islands to have parents or grandparents who were. Similarly, former Ireland players from England are now eligible for Ireland among others including Germany and Trinidad & Tobago.
The changes favor the capturing of players produced by other unions; unions whose rosters are homegrown gain no benefit at all. Georgia and Uruguay pole opposites of Samoa.
The new laws mean Mathieu Belie is now eligible for Spain. Four years after disqualification the French-born player, who paid his way to train in Spain and for Los Leones, is set to reappear on a match sheet in RWC qualifiers.
