Foreign-Born Players in 2019 Americas Rugby Championship

With the controversial events of 2018 the issue of eligibility and Foreign-Born Players remains a hot topic. The 2019 Americas Rugby Championship will involve players who qualified for a country other than that which they were born in.

With widespread use of nationalizing players via Regulation 8, World Rugby extended residency laws from three years to five. This alteration made it harder, or rather, more expensive for unions to sign foreign-born players who could potentially represent them in international rugby.

The move from three to five years residency came in May 2017. Eight months later saw a major controversy and embarrassment in Europe’s RWC qualifiers. So serious were the events of March 2018 that Romania would ultimately be disqualified from RWC 2019. Belgium, and Spain were also victims as had been Tahiti just days after the Belgium vs Spain fixture.

RWC 2019 will be the first in history without Romania. Meanwhile u20 players continue to be captured by rivals. Since January 1, 2018 countries cannot nominate their U20 side as their ‘next of XV’. Unfortunately for the pair and for Spain this cannot be retroactively applied.

In the 2019 Americas Rugby Championship Australia, England, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and Tonga all have players born in the countries who will be playing for another. Leading the way is the USA with a roster containing 17 foreign-born players.

 

USA (17)

Ireland and South Africa top the list for contributing countries to both the USA and the 2019 ARC in general. Five Irish-born players are on the Eagles roster as are four South African-born players. Hanco Germishuys, and Duncan van Schalkwyk both left South Africa as young boys.

Kapeli Pifeleti was born in Tonga and began playing professional rugby aged 19 for the San Diego Legion. More remarkable still is he played for England u18 the same year as he was called up to the USA Select XV. He qualifies via 10 years cumulative residency in the country, as does older brother Kapeli, who plays prop for the Legion.

PLAYER	POS	BIRTH COUNTRY	ELIGIBILITY	OTHER REP.
Dylan Fawsitt	HK	Ireland	Residency (2017)	–
James Hilterbrand	HK	Australia	Parent	Australia u18
Kapeli Pifeleti	HK	Tonga	Cumulative Residency	England u18
Paul Mullen	TH	Ireland	Grandparent	Ireland u19, USA u20
Greg Peterson	LO	Australia	Parent	Australia u20
Hanco Germishuys	FL	South Africa	Residency (2007)	–
John Quill	FL	Ireland	Parent	Ireland Schools
Shaun Davies	SH	South Africa	Residency (2012)	–
Ruben de Haas	SH	South Africa	Residency (2012)	–
Duncan van Schalkwyk	SH	South Africa	Residency (2005)	–
Will Hooley	FH	England	Grandparent	England u18, u20
Tadhg Leader	FH	Ireland	Residency (2018)	Ireland u19, u20
AJ MacGinty	FH	Ireland	Residency (2015)	–
Will Magie	FH	England	Parent	–
Dylan Audsley	CE	England	Parent	–
Paul Lasike	CE	New Zealand	Residency (2012)	–
Luke Hume	WI	Australia	Residency (2011)	–

 

BRAZIL (3)

Josh Reeves and De Wet van Niekerk are Brazil’s Foreign-Born players to open the ARC. Both are back from prior editions of the tournament. Missing is Devon Müller who remains uncapped despite playing for Brazil in November. Upon completing his residency he is expected to become a regular in the side.

New to the team is Italian-born forward Matteo Dell’Acqua. A lock or blindside flanker, the 27-year-old was born near Milan and represented Italy at age grade levels up to u20. He qualifies for the Tupis from his Brazilian mother.

The team also has players who were born in Brazil but raised abroad. Yan Rosetti grew up in Argentina while the Sancery twins, Daniel and Felipe, grew up in France. Lorenzo Massari was raised in Italy and is a graduate of their national under-18 academy program. He arrives from Parabiago in the Italian Serie ‘A’.

PLAYER	POS	BIRTH COUNTRY	ELIGIBILITY	OTHER REP
Matteo Dell’Acqua	LO	Italy	Parent	Italy u18, u19, u20
Josh Reeves	FH	New Zealand	Residency (2016)	–
De Wet van Niekerk	WI	South Africa	Residency (2016)	–

 

CANADA (2)

Canada go into the ARC with two foreign-born players. Back row forward Dustin Dobravsky is in his second year with the senior side, having previously played sevens for Canada. Born and raised in Hanover, he represented Germany up to u18 level though he moved to Canada at the age of 16, a country he qualifies for thanks to his Canadian mother.

Also qualifying due to parentage is Will Percillier. The highly promising scrumhalf was born in Bordeaux, France, and also spent time growing up in Singapore before attending Brentwood College on Vancouver Island. He has recently returned to France, joining the Stade Français academy program.

Two players in the squad were born in Canada but moved abroad at a young age. Josh Larsen grew up in New Zealand along with older brother Travis, a Canada ‘A’ cap who is currently playing for Austin Elite in Major League Rugby.

Justin Blanchet represented Canada u17 while living in England. He was subsequently part of an extended England u20 training squad and part of the Exeter Chiefs academy. Blanchet’s older brother Sam, also born in Canada, played for England Sevens and was a bobsleigh athlete for Great Britain at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

PLAYER	POS	BIRTH COUNTRY	ELIGIBILITY	OTHER REP.
Dustin Dobravsky	FL	Germany	Parent	Germany u18
Will Percillier	SH	France	Parent	–

 

CHILE (1)

Los Cóndores go into the 2019 ARC without some of their foreign-based talent. Among them is first choice second row Nikola Bursic who was born in California to a Chilean father and moved to Chile aged five. Selected for this year’s competition is Australian Jaden Laing. The giant forward or center has a Chilean mother. With a rugby league background, Laing has already represented Chile in the 13-a-side code.

PLAYER	POS	BIRTH COUNTRY	ELIGIBILTY	OTHER REP.
Jaden Laing	N8	Australia	Parent	Chile (RL)

 

ARGENTINA XV (0)

All players in the Argentina XV were born in Argentina.

 

URUGUAY (0)

All players on Uruguay’s roster were born in Uruguay.