Outcry over van Rensburg call-up makes no sense – Andy Goode

The outcry over Benhard Janse van Rensburg’s England selection makes no sense and a lot of the former players up in arms are being more than a bit hypocritical.

I played with Riki Flutey, who was from New Zealand and qualified on residency, and there have been a host of other England internationals born outside the country and qualifying via a distant relative or by living here for a period so why should this case be any different?

If you were happy to share a dressing room with the likes of Manu Tuilagi, the Vunipola brothers, Nathan Hughes, Shontayne Hape, Mouritz Botha, and the list goes on, then I think you’re on shaky ground questioning van Rensburg’s call-up.

I appreciate qualifying via a grandparent or parent is different for a lot of people but there are a plethora of players who have represented England after qualifying on residency and their inclusion didn’t cause quite this much of a stir.

The irony is that nobody is really talking about the presence in this squad of Kepu Tuipulotu, who was born in Pontypool to parents from Tonga and also only qualifies for England on residency.

That can only be an age thing surely, so is it ok if a player has served that five-year residency period in their teens rather than in their twenties?

Ultimately, rules are rules and van Rensburg is eligible after a successful appeal for dispensation to consider him despite the 21 minutes he played for South Africa U20 in 2016, so he should be in if he improves England’s chances of winning.

Steve Borthwick says he understands the discussion but I don’t as it only seems to be had in relation to some players and not others. He’s got every right to be there and Borthwick needs to find a way to get England winning again, and help him stay in a job.

The optics might not help when old interviews are dredged up where van Rensburg says his kids would question why he was playing for England but he’s not the first to say something like that and then adopt a different nationality and he won’t be the last.

This is professional sport and there’s no way it should be a different conversation just because it’s England either. You’d be hard pushed to find a nation in the world who hasn’t had someone born elsewhere play for them.

Of course, it is far less common for the likes of Argentina or Georgia and we’re very used to seeing it with Japan, for example. At the very top of the game, the All Blacks have benefited from a whole bunch of players who qualified via residency.

There were things written and said about the likes of Jamison Gibson-Park and Duhan van der Merwe when they were called up by Ireland and Scotland but they have gone on to represent the British & Irish Lions and we’re not talking about it now.

I appreciate that some people think it shouldn’t be necessary for England because they have a much bigger pool of players but it can’t be one rule for some, another rule for others and van Rensburg shouldn’t be denied the opportunity.

England have won one Six Nations Grand Slam in the last 23 years and one World Cup in their history so it isn’t as if they’re winning everything and can afford to adopt what some people would regard as the moral high ground while others don’t.

You can have a conversation around form and ability but this is elite level sport and I’m not having the argument that he’s blocking the path of Ollie Lawrence or Max Ojomoh.

For the record, I’d absolutely have picked Ojomoh and can’t understand why he hasn’t been given another chance since being named player of the match against Argentina in November but selection is one man’s opinion.

He’s missed a few games through injury but I think the 25-year-old has been in decent form for Bath and has the skillset to make a real difference to this England team. Borthwick obviously prefers van Rensburg’s power and offloading game and that’s his right.

World Rugby increased the residency requirement from three to five years at the end of 2020 and now there is also the rule that allows players to switch allegiance and represent a second nation after three years out of Test rugby.

It’s fine to have a debate about whether one feels those rules are correct but not to kick up a fuss when a particular individual like van Rensburg satisfies the criteria and gets selected but not when others do exactly the same.

Van Rensburg has been consistently excellent in the PREM for five years, thrived at Bristol after the collapse of London Irish and is in his prime at the age of 29. He deserves his shot and you can bet your bottom dollar the same people won’t be saying the same things if he helps England win a Six Nations title or World Cup next year.