Qualification

[UKHamlet]

I haven't fully formed my thoughts around the granny and residency qualification loopholes in the present laws but it seems to me that it plays into the hands of the better resourced countries at the expense of the smaller countries. Obviously, the Feyi-Waboso issue has raised this. It seems manifestly unfair that a country like England with dozens of players to pick from should be allowed to plunder the resources of a smaller country like Wales. Conversely, small countries using grannies or residency to acquire players from bigger countries doesn't matter as much because it wont impact as much. Someone like Tompkins might only get a few cameos for England but has become a mainstay for Wales. It's possible that Feyi-Waboso will suffer that fate, playing second fiddle to other English players but forever denied to the country of his birth and parentage.

How do you address this?

One possible way is to bar England, NZ, RSA, and France from playing players on convenient granny or residency qualifications. Or alternatively, giving the smaller countries a preferential draft for such players the way American Football clubs get earlier draft picks if they are lower in the pecking order.

Whatever we do, the conversation needs to be had, or we will see a drain of players going to bigger countries for financial and other reasons.

[Sandydragon]

I haven't fully formed my thoughts around the granny and residency qualification loopholes in the present laws but it seems to me that it plays into the hands of the better resourced countries at the expense of the smaller countries. Obviously, the Feyi-Waboso issue has raised this. It seems manifestly unfair that a country like England with dozens of players to pick from should be allowed to plunder the resources of a smaller country like Wales. Conversely, small countries using grannies or residency to acquire players from bigger countries doesn't matter as much because it wont impact as much. Someone like Tompkins might only get a few cameos for England but has become a mainstay for Wales. It's possible that Feyi-Waboso will suffer that fate, playing second fiddle to other English players but forever denied to the country of his birth and parentage.

How do you address this?

One possible way is to bar England, NZ, RSA, and France from playing players on convenient granny or residency qualifications. Or alternatively, giving the smaller countries a preferential draft for such players the way American Football clubs get earlier draft picks if they are lower in the pecking order.

Whatever we do, the conversation needs to be had, or we will see a drain of players going to bigger countries for financial and other reasons.

I think that particular issue could have been addressed by the WRU and the caps issue. We cant afford to lose the likes of Hawkins either, but thats another player who we have lost, hopefully not for the long term. I agree that it would be simpler if it were just country of birth that counted, but we would have to be careful what we wished for there.

[UKHamlet]

Not sure country of birth would be helpful. The reason a lot of Welsh people have children in England is because they migrate for work. We don't have the jobs in Wales. My two grandaughters are respectively eligible for Germany, Morocco, the USA, and Wales. Soon they will be eligible for England too on residency grounds. We need to stop the big countries plundering the small countries by disqualifying them from accessing the granny / residency qualification, while at the same time allowing the smaller countries to continue doing it because the flow of talent is almost exclusively one way.

[Sandydragon]

Not sure country of birth would be helpful. The reason a lot of Welsh people have children in England is because they migrate for work. We don't have the jobs in Wales. My two grandaughters are respectively eligible for Germany, Morocco, the USA, and Wales. Soon they will be eligible for England too on residency grounds. We need to stop the big countries plundering the small countries by disqualifying them from accessing the granny / residency qualification, while at the same time allowing the smaller countries to continue doing it because the flow of talent is almost exclusively one way.

Exactly my point, if we tighten things up to place of birth only then we would take a big hit.

Better to keep the rules as they are and make a huge effort to tempt eligible players to commit and get them capped. If that means dropping the 25 cap rule or relaxing it for a while then so be it.

[Son of Mathonwy]

To make this work, I think the qualification rules would need to flex, depending on how well-resourced (or successful?) a country is. So there would be different levels, the better off a nation is, the more difficult it would be to qualify for it.

Although we could maybe find some way to distinguish between countries by GDP, population, or player base, it might be best to use the ranking system to do the job, eg

If a nation has been ranked 4th or higher in the last 2 years, it's level 1, otherwise it's level 2.

For a level 1 nation, qualification is for those born in the country, with a parent born in the country, or with 7 years' residency. A player previously capped by another nation can qualify as above if they have not been capped for 5 years.

For level 2, qualification is for those born in the country, with a parent or grandparent born in the country, or with 5 years' residency. A player previously capped by another nation can qualify as above if they have not been capped for 3 years.

We could even tweak it further eg with more stringent rules for those ranked 1st in the last 2 years, more loose rules for those outside the top 10 etc.