"Rugby must stay deaf to All Black Charles Piutau's pleas to play for Tonga"

[www.smh.com.au]

"If you believe the talks doing the rounds, even older stars such as Ma'a Nonu, Steven Luatua and Victor Vito are also interested in pulling on different jerseys."


"It helped him [Piatau] to a massive deal at Ulster just as it has led to a new contract with English club Bath, reported to be worth nearly $2m a season."

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Got this link from a Rugby League forum BTW as they're wondering if there's an untapped market to pinch Union players.

Weird indeed. The journalist Duncan Johnston could at least have done some homework before having a rant though!!

That said it is an interesting point made and for some, could be an attractive way to represent the nation of their birth. The same argument could be made over here for the Vunipolas, Nathan Hughes, Dylan Hartley(!) if they started making the same noises.

He's right, once you've made your bed, you've got to lie in it, which that was more or less the whole point of the tightening of the rules following the likes of Shane Howarth et al switching countries.

It raises the question though, does the 'International Representation slate' become wiped clean should a player switch to what is essentially a completely different sport?

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Supporting Bristol since... since... Oh, not enough fingers.

The desire for some Pacific Islanders (most seem to be Bristol players) to play for their nations is being reported in a few sources today.

This is the first time I've seen it suggested that they should switch codes if they want to do so.

It wouldn't suit us at Bristol at all would it?

I have a certain sympathy for the Pacific Islanders. Many of their best players are the lucky recipients of scholarships to schools in Australia or New Zealand. While there they qualify on residency grounds as All Blacks or Wallabies. It's hard to turn down. A major consequence is more for the Pacific Island Unions. This means that many of their best players are never available to them. To be honest I would have thought that New Zealand, at least, would still have a pretty decent team without plundering the Pacific Islands.

I think it’s should be tighter than league, but rugby isn’t strong enough internationally to keep slapping down the Pacific Nations. Thy have given so much to world rugby, so give them a little back.

I believe almost all the 'Pacific Island' players who now can't play for Fiji, Tonga or Samoa because they have played for the All Blacks (like Charles Piutau and Steven Luatua) were born in NZ - so it's not to do with school scholarships as far as NZ goes. Not sure about the Aussie Fijians though. They don't plunder the Pacific Nations but just benefit from the kids of parents who moved to NZ from the islands for jobs.

In the short term allowing ex 1st tier nation players to, later in their careers, play for the country of their parents etc would make those countries stronger but this article is asking at what price (cost to others who could have played and the Sport's integrity) and there must be better ways to help make those countries as competitive as they should be. One way would be ensuring that those who play for the Island nations get paid well to do so, so that it gives them more incentive to turn the AB chance down.

Of course the Islands also benefit from playes like Nanai-Williams who were born in NZ and benefited from the great rugby and coaching they get there from an early age.