Foreign-Born / Produced / Trained Players in 2023 Six Nations

The 2023 Six Nations sees changes in player eligibility to that from prior years. World Rugby’s eligibility law changes entitle eligible players to represent a second country following a three-year stand-down period from their last binding representative appearance for their first country.

The change of nationality saw a variety of players changing countries in 2022. One example is Australia’s Rugby World Cup 2019 flanker, Jack Dempsey who played for Scotland against Australia in November 2022. He qualified via (a) a grandparent and (b) completing a three-year stand-down period from his last binding representative appearance.

Previously eligibility was obtained by meeting Regulation 8 as outlined by World Rugby. This required a player to (a) be born in the country; (b) have one parent or grandparent from the country; or (c) complete 3 years consecutive residency immediately before representative duty.

In 2023 players qualifying via residency do so with five years or ten years cumulative. Residency was supposed to be extended from three to five years at the end of 2020; however, the May 2017 decision to change Regulation 8 began one year later than originally intended. Residency-qualified players were previously required to complete a 36-month residency qualification period. Since January 01, 2022 this has been 60 months.

This purpose of this article is to document player eligibility in the 2023 Six Nations. It identifies which players were born in a country other than that which they are representing and include details as to which country produced and trained the player to make him the international player that he is today.

There were 59 foreign-born players in the 2021 Six Nations. The number increased to 73 foreign-born players in the 2022 Six Nations. The number decreased to 55 for the 2023 Six Nations Championship.

 

This is an original work researched and written by Paul Tait of Americas Rugby News.

 

 

SCOTLAND (22)

Twenty-one out of Scotland’s twenty-two foreign-born players are not homegrown. This means 95% of Scotland’s foreign-born players were trained and produced by rivals. Two-thirds of Scotland’s foreign-born players have represented other countries in some capacity.

Two of the players played at Rugby World Cup 2019 for different countries. Flanker Jack Dempsey played for Australia and winger Ruaridh McConnochie played for England. Scrum-half Ben White played for England against the Barbarians in a non-capped match in 2019.

2023 rookie Ben Healy was born and raised in Ireland and represented Ireland u20. Ruaridh McConnochie was born and raised in England. Cameron Henderson was born in Hong Kong, where he began playing rugby, and moved to Scotland aged 13.

Healy joins others from outside of the UK such as Sean Maitland and Sione Tuipulotu as instances of adults who were signed to play in Scotland precisely with the intention of playing for Scotland.

Ewan Ashman was born in Toronto and lived in Canada until moving to England at the age of four. His father is Scottish and mother English. Boston native Rufus McLean misses out through suspension and may never play again for Scotland or in Scotland. Huw Jones was born in Scotland but is not homegrown; he was raised in England.

PLAYER	BORN	TRAINED	POS	ELIGIBILITY	OTHER REP.
Pierre Schoeman	South Africa	South Africa	LH	Residency (2021)	South Africa u18, u20
Ewan Ashman	Canada	England	HK	Parent	–
Simon Berghan	New Zealand	New Zealand	TH	Grandparent	–
Willem Nel	South Africa	South Afica	TH	Residency (2015)	–
Javan Sebastian	England	Wales	TH	Parent	Wales u16, u18
Cameron Henderson	Hong Kong	Scotland	LO	Parent	–
Sam Skinner	England	England	LO	Parent	England u20
Josh Bayliss	England	England	FL	Grandparent	England u20
Andy Christie	England	England	FL	Grandparent	England u18, u20
Hamish Watson	England	England	FL	Grandparent	–
Jack Dempsey	Australia	Australia	N8	Grandparent	Australia Schools, u20, Australia
Ali Price	England	England	SH	Parent	–
Ben White	England	England	SH	Grandparent	England u20, XV
Charlie Savala	Australia	Australia	FH	Parent	–
Ben Healy	Ireland	Ireland	FH	Parent	Ireland u20
Chris Harris	England	England	CE	Grandparent	England Counties
Cameron Redpath	France	England	CE	Parent	England u18, u20
Sione Tuipulotu	Australia	Australia	CE	Parent	Australia Schools, u20
Kyle Steyn	South Africa	South Africa	WI	Parent	–
Sean Maitland	New Zealand	New Zealand	WI	Grandparent	New Zealand u19, u20, Māori
Ruaridh McConnochie	England	England	WI	Parent	England 7’s, England
Duhan van der Merwe	South Africa	South Africa	WI	Residency (2020)	South Africa Schools, u20

HISTORICAL NUMBERS
2022 – 27
2021 – 23
2019 – 19
2018 – 23
2017 – 18
2016 – 14

 

 

IRELAND (10)

Ireland’s roster contains more foreign-born players in 2023 than in 2022; moreover, Ireland has more foreign-born players in the 2023 Six Nations than Italy. New York native Joe McCarthy is a product of the Irish rugby system as is Joey Carbery. The other foreign-born individuals are not homegrown players.

New Zealanders Bundee Aki and James Lowe were brought to Ireland as professional adult rugby players with the deliberate purpose of being nationalized to play for Ireland. So too was Australian Mack Hansen who qualifies via his mother who was born in County Cork. She moved from Ireland to Australia aged 7. Lowe played for the Māori All Blacks against the British & Irish Lions. Jamison Gibson-Park is also a former Māori All Black. Joey Carbery is Irish trained; he moved from New Zealand to Ireland aged 11.

Aware of his Irish eligibility via a grandfather, Ulster recruited South African Rob Herring. Josh van der Flier is not from South Africa. The Dutch Disciple was born and raised in Ireland. He won the sport’s top individual award in 2022 of World Rugby Player of the Year.

Tight head prop Tom O’Toole was born in Ireland but moved to Australia aged 6 and developed to the point that he represented the Queensland Schoolboys. The IRFU had followed his progression closely in Australia and wanted him back in their system. Ireland added USA prop Roman Salanoa to their roster days before facing Wales. Salanoa is a former USA u20’s player and is a product of the the USA system. He has no family ties to Ireland.

PLAYER	BORN	TRAINED	POS	ELIGIBILITY	OTHER REP.
Rob Herring	South Africa	South Africa	HK	Grandparent	–
Finlay Bealham	Australia	Australia	TH	Grandparent	Australia Schools
Roman Salanoa	USA	USA	TH	Residency (2022)	USA u20, Hawaii All-State
Joe McCarthy	USA	Ireland	LO	Parent	–
Kieran Treadwell	England	England	LO	Parent	England u20
Jamison Gibson-Park	New Zealand	New Zealand	SH	Residency (2020)	New Zealand Māori
Joey Carbery	New Zealand	Ireland	FH	Parent	–
Bundee Aki	New Zealand	New Zealand	CE	Residency (2017)	–
Mack Hansen	Australia	Australia	WI	Parent	Australia u20
James Lowe	New Zealand	New Zealand	WI	Residency (2020)	New Zealand Māori, Schools, u15 Basketball

HISTORICAL NUMBERS
2022 – 9
2021 – 8
2019 – 7
2018 – 9
2017 – 6
2016 – 9

 

WALES (7)

Taulupe Faletau and Christ Tshiunza moved to Wales as children. They were both trained in Wales. Taulupe Faletau’s father played at RWC 1999 for Tonga. George North is also homegrown; he moved to Wales at the age of two and was completely developed by Wales.

Bradley Roberts departed South Africa after missing out on a professional contract. He played in North Wales before joining Ulster to play in the United Rugby Championship (URC). After debuting for Wales he moved to the Dragons to remain eligible.

Alex Cuthbert, Tomas Francis, and Nick Tompkins are from England and are products of the English rugby system. They qualify for Wales via heritage. Tompkins previously played for England’s next-of-XV, the England Saxons.

PLAYER	BORN	TRAINED	POS	ELIGIBILITY	OTHER REP.
Bradley Roberts	South Africa	South Africa	HK	Grandparent	–
Tomas Francis	England	England	TH	Grandparent	–
Taulupe Faletau	Tonga	Wales	N8	Residency (2001)	–
Christ Tshiunza	DR Congo	Wales	LO	Residency (2015)	–
George North	England	Wales	CE	Parent	–
Nick Tompkins	England	England	CE	Grandparent	England u18, u20, Saxons
Alex Cuthbert	England	England	WI	Parent	–

HISTORICAL NUMBERS
2022 – 13
2021 – 12
2019 – 9
2018 – 9
2017 – 10
2016 – 13

 

 

ITALY (7)

In comparison to earlier Six Nations campaigns, the 2023 Italian roster has the least foreign-born players. Kieran Crowley named six on his roster, compared to fourteen in 2022. There were ten in 2021 and 2016, nine in 2019, and eight in 2017 and 2018.

Marco Manfredi was born in Germany but raised in Italy where he learned his rugby. The other five players were not trained in Italy. Ange Capuozzo, Sebastian Negri, Jake Polledri and Stephen Varney all represented Italy u20 as players not based in Italy nor produced by Italian rugby. They all qualify via heritage as does Juan Ignacio Brex who used the Olympic loophole to change his allegiance from Argentina to Italy.

Tommaso Allan was born in Italy. Scotland were not happy with his decision to play for Italy; however, he is not a product of the Scottish rugby system. Martin Page-Relo joined the roster mid-tournament.

PLAYER	BORN	TRAINED	POS	ELIGIBILITY	OTHER REP.
Marco Manfredi	Germany	Italy	HK	Parent	–
Sebastian Negri	Zimbabwe	South Africa	FL	Parent	–
Jake Polledri	England	England	FL	Grandparent	–
Martin Page-Relo	France	France	SH	Grandparent	–
Stephen Varney	Wales	Wales	SH	Parent	–
Juan Ignacio Brex	Argentina	Argentina	CE	Grandparent	Argentina u19, u20, 7s, XV
Ange Capuozzo	France	France	FB	Parent	–

HISTORICAL NUMBERS
2022 – 14
2021 – 10
2019 – 9
2018 – 8
2017 – 8
2016 – 10

ENGLAND (5)

Four of England’s five foreign-born players moved to England as children and went through the English system. Bevan Rodd left Scotland when he was nine months old. He grew up in Dubai, the Isle of Man, and North West England, and represented England at u16, u18 and u20 levels. Mako Vunipola played in Wales before arriving in England.

Marcus Smith first played rugby in Singapore and moved to England aged 13. Manu Tuilagi was born in Samoa but raised in England. He faced deportation from England in 2010 for having entered the UK on a tourist visa and subsequently overstaying. His brothers Freddie, Henry, Alesana, Anitelea, and Vavae all played for Samoa where they were born and raised.

The non-homegrown player is David Ribbans who moved from South Africa to play in England in 2017. He arrived in England at the age of 21. He qualifies via a grandparent. He replaced Courtney Lawes on the roster on January 23.

Roster members George McGuigan and Daniel Kelly both previously played for Ireland u20’s but are England born, produced and trained players. McGuigan joined Lawes in dropping out of the roster due to injury. Guy Porter is English born but Australian raised, trained and produced.

PLAYER	BORN	TRAINED	POS	ELIGIBILITY	OTHER REP.
Bevan Rodd	Scotland	England	LH	Parent	–
Mako Vunipola	New Zealand	England	LH	Residency (2008)	–
David Ribbans	South Africa	South Africa	LO	Grandparent	–
Marcus Smith	Philippines	England	FH	Parent	–
Manu Tuilagi	Samoa	England	CE	Residency (2007)	–

HISTORICAL NUMBERS
2022 – 6
2021 – 2
2019 – 8
2018 – 11
2017 – 7
2016 – 8

 

FRANCE (4)

Two of France’s four foreign-born players moved to the country in their childhood. Two arrived as adults for the purposes of continuing their professional rugby careers. Uini Atonio and Paul Willemse are not products of the French rugby system.

Émilien Gailleton was born in England and moved to France aged 3. Dany Priso moved from Cameroon to France at the age of 11. Gailleton’s father is from France.

Sipili Falatea and Yoram Moefana are from the French territory of Wallis and Futuna. They moved to Metropolitan France aged 17 and 13 respectively. Thibaud Flament was born in France but raised in Belgium. He started playing rugby at the age of 8 for ASUB Rugby Waterloo.

PLAYER	BORN	TRAINED	POS	ELIGIBILITY	OTHER REP.
Dany Priso	Cameroon	France	LH	Residency (2008)	–
Uini Atonio	New Zealand	New Zealand	TH	Residency (2014)	Samoa u20
Paul Willemse	South Africa	Namibia	LO	Residency (2018)	Namibia u18, South Africa u20
Émilien Gailleton	England	France	CE	Parent	–

HISTORICAL NUMBERS
2022 – 4
2021 – 4
2019 – 3
2018 – 3
2017 – 4
2016 – 4