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10 England players who could switch allegiance ahead of RWC2023
World Rugby’s rule changes around international eligibility have certainly provided plenty of fodder for theoretical articles on who could switch allegiances, who they could play for and when.
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Per the new rules, a three-step criteria will be applied for a player to change who he represents internationally.
The switching player must stand down from Test rugby for 36 months; the player must either be born in the country to which they wish to transfer or have a parent or grandparent born in that country; and a player may only change their union once.
Each case will also be subject to approval by the World Rugby regulations committee to preserve the integrity.
Here we take a look at ten England players that could make the switch, either immediately or in the year ahead.
ZACH MERCER
The Montpellier backrow played for Scotland at U16 and U18s age-grades through residency, and hasn’t played for England since 2018. Mercer still has designs on the white jersey and adding to his two caps to date, but his move to French club rugby has effectively ended his chances of selection in the short term. Mercer could theoretically, switch to Scotland at Test level under the new rules.
MATT KVESIC
29-year-old Kvesic was born in Iserlohn, Germany and earned four caps for England, the last of which came in September 2019 and as a result could theoretically switch to Germany later this year.
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CHARLIE SHARPLES
The super fast Sharples won four caps for England, the last coming way back in 2012. Having been born in Hong Kong in 1989, the 32-year-old could technically switch to the Asian side immediately, should World Rugby green light it.
NATHAN HUGHES
The Bristol No.8 last played for England in 2018 and could make the switch to Fiji immediately having been born on the island. Fiji have significant depth in their back row, so whether Vern Cotter reckons the 30-year-old is worth a look at is another matter.
SEMESA ROKODUGUNI
The Bath winger hasn’t featured for England since 2017 and at 34 it’s unlikely he’ll ever add to his four caps. Fiji have even more depth in on the wings than in their backrow, so it’s unlikely that such a switch would happen.
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DON ARMAND
A few years ago Armand’s lack of involvement in the England squad was a cause célèbre in rugby circles. The Exeter Chiefs flanker would eventually win two caps under Eddie Jones, the last coming in 2018. He was born in Harare and could feature for Zimbabwe, although they have not qualified for the Rugby World Cup in France.
DENNY SOLOMONA
The Sale Sharks wing could play for Samoa having not added to his five caps for England since 2017. Although born in New Zealand, Solomona has represented Samoa in rugby league and his family hail from the Pacific island.
GEORGE KRUIS
Former England second-row Kruis probably hasn’t given up a return for England under Jones. He could however eventually play for Canada through his Canadian father, although he’d have to wait until March, 2023. The kicker for Kruis is that Canada haven’t qualified for France 2023, the first time the nation failed to do so in the history of the tournament.
TEIMANA HARRISON
New Zealand-born and raised – Harrison’s last involvement with England was back in 2016 and the Saints’ veteran has nailed his colours to the mast regarding his continued desire to play for Jones’ side. “That is always the ambition – until I retire I’ll be gunning for an England spot again,” Harrison told RugbyPass in 2020. He could switch to the All Blacks, as unlikely as that might be.
RUARIDH MCCONNOCHIE
As the name suggests, Ruaridh McConnochie is eligible to play for Scotland through his Scottish father. He won his sole cap for England against Italy in 2019 and would be ready to switch to Gregor Townsend’s side this September.
Comments on RugbyPass
Je suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
25 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
25 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
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