Ex Players in the News...

Shane O'Leary to participate in Canadian international trials.

www.the42.ie/shane-oleary-canada-trials-...cht-3409867-May2017/

Delighted for him. Hopefully it goes well and he can build on the promise and talent he definitely has

Miah nikora has left petrarca rugby, keeping options open according to his instagram

With boshoff gone, nikora is IQ and knows the place

swift4prez wrote: Miah nikora has left petrarca rugby, keeping options open according to his instagram

With boshoff gone, nikora is IQ and knows the place

www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/dave-elli...t-connacht-1.3109311

Not an ex player but a Connacht interest in tomorrow's Lions match.

Shane O'Leary named at 10 for Canada at the weekend, hopefully he goes well
Also AJ MacGinty named for USA, two fly-halves that I wouldn't mind still having on the books

MulMan wrote: Shane O'Leary named at 10 for Canada at the weekend, hopefully he goes well
Also AJ MacGinty named for USA, two fly-halves that I wouldn't mind still having on the books

Dobby take Rugby out of it for a second but should any person from any country be able to represent one country in any sport then realise that they can then represent another then be allowed to do so?

If you think that's ok... Fair enough. If not well I ask you this. going from your example McGinty is representing USA what limbo is he in. He has represented a national team that isn't Ireland by being there the required 3 years. He came here on the back of a good world cup so should he now be available to play for Ireland because he 1 played well 2 is from Ireland initially (but he's USA capped already) I don't understand the argument

Heenan is free to play for New Zealand but there is very little chance of that happening because of New Zealand's own rule against picking players from different countries. New Zealand have a similar policy to the IRFU when it comes to players qualified for the national team you play at home or you better be damn impossible to replace (is Sexton)

connemara man wrote: Dobby take Rugby out of it for a second but should any person from any country be able to represent one country in any sport then realise that they can then represent another then be allowed to do so?

If you think that's ok... Fair enough. If not well I ask you this. going from your example McGinty is representing USA what limbo is he in. He has represented a national team that isn't Ireland by being there the required 3 years. He came here on the back of a good world cup so should he now be available to play for Ireland because he 1 played well 2 is from Ireland initially (but he's USA capped already) I don't understand the argument

Heenan is free to play for New Zealand but there is very little chance of that happening because of New Zealand's own rule against picking players from different countries. New Zealand have a similar policy to the IRFU when it comes to players qualified for the national team you play at home or you better be damn impossible to replace (is Sexton)

McGinty has been capped at full international level, Heenan has not. That's the difference. Plain and simple

www.the42.ie/aj-macginty-usa-ireland-3435025-Jun2017/

Westie85 wrote: McGinty has been capped at full international level, Heenan has not. That's the difference. Plain and simple

From 1 January next year u20s sides can no longer be nominated as a nation's second side. Also you are not tied to a country for playing 7s if you're under the age of 20 when you play unless you play for them at the Olympics I believe.

Either way MacGinty not being able to play for Ireland makes perfect sense even if it is disappointing for us in particular. You can't have senior players being able to switch allegiances, it's not workable, and you absolutely can't make exceptions for one player no matter the circumstances. He's not the first player to be stung (see Isa Nacewa and his 2 mins off the bench for Fiji) and he won't be the last, but that's life.

It's actually even more complicated than that. If you play for your countries second team that ties you if and only if you have played for the second team against another country's second team. So if you played for Ireland A vs England A, you're tied, but if you played for Ireland A vs. Wales A you're not. Likewise playing for Wales U-20 vs. Ireland U-20 doesn't tie you to Wales but playing for Wales U-20 vs. France U-20 does.

The change stopping U-20 sides as second teams is welcome but there's still the possibility of changing nations through sevens - Olympics regulations allow you change nationality if (a) you haven't played for another country in 18 months and (b) you are a passport holder in your "new" country. Once you've played in 4 sevens events you can then also play 15-a-side for your adopted country, event if you've been capped as senior level for your own/original/first one.

www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/

Jackman takes over at the Dragons.