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Gavin Henson queries residency rules after two more Kiwis become 'Welsh'
Willis Halaholo and Johnny McNicholl are not the first players to qualify for a country on residency, and they will not be the last, but their inclusion in Wayne Pivac’s Wales squad has not pleased everyone.
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The Wales squad already has Hadleigh Parkes in it, a player born and raised in New Zealand who moved to Wales in 2014, but the latest inclusion of Cardiff Blues’ Halaholo and Scarlets’ McNicholl, both of whom are also from New Zealand, have proven quite contentious.
Former Wales and British and Irish Lions international Gavin Henson is one player to speak up about this selection, describing it as “so wrong” on Twitter.
Fans were quick to quiz Henson about his former Wales team-mates such as Sonny Parker, Brent Cockbain and Hal Luscombe, who were born in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa respectively. He said that he told them that he thought it was wrong at the time.
This is so wrong. 😤 pic.twitter.com/iWZuoTRj80
— Gavin Lloyd-Henson (@gavinhenson82) November 19, 2019
The 37-year-old was emphatic in stressing that those who qualify to play for Wales on residency grounds are not Welsh.
The former Dragons centre was also questioned about the current Wales squad that has a number of players born in England such as George North, Jonathan Davies and Ross Moriarty.
To this Henson replied: “Parent or grandparent is totally fine. Residency should only count if they’ve spent a certain amount of time in that country in their childhood.”
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Parent or grandparent is totally fine. Residency should only count if they’ve spent a certain amount of time in that country in their childhood. https://t.co/izXlSCUFPa
— Gavin Lloyd-Henson (@gavinhenson82) November 20, 2019
This may muddy the waters somewhat, but it seems that Henson only objects to players that have qualified to play for another country as professional rugby players, like Halaholo and McNicholl.
This still raises questions about a player like Gareth Anscombe, who grew up in New Zealand and represented their under-20s, but qualified for Wales through a parent.
Anscombe and North both have a Welsh parent, but the winger has spent the majority of his life living in Wales, and their cases are ostensibly different. It is therefore understandable why some might have objected to the fly-half’s Wales call up, even though it was not on residency grounds.
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It is reasonable to suggest that there will never be a consensus among all players, fans and coaches as to what truly determines whether a player can represent a certain country.
While World Rugby have extended the residency qualification period from three years to five as of December 31, 2020, it is still probably not enough to placate those that agree with Henson and this will always be a controversial topic.
WATCH: RugbyPass looks back on some of our favourite moments with the fans at the World Cup in Japan
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe 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
3 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 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 comments