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South Africa leaves door open for highly rated Josh Neill
By Neil Fissler
The Springboks haven’t given up hope and have left the door open for flanker Josh Neill to play Test rugby for the land of his birth, despite his Man of the Match display for Ireland U20 last weekend.
Neill joined the Leinster academy at the start of the season after they held off Munster and every South African United Rugby Championship side to land the former schoolboy prodigy earlier this season.
Neill, a former Rondebosch Boys’ High School and Springbok under-18 back row, made an impressive debut for Ireland under-20s, scoring two tries in a 29-10 win in a warm-up game against Italy.
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He then followed it up with another dazzling display against the Azzurri in Cork and has got England firmly in his sights for this weekend, as Ireland look to shock the highly rated Red Rose.
“We believe in our team, and we believe in the players that we have. I think when we get it right, we are going to be a good team, and I think we can go all the way in this Six Nations campaign,” he told RTE.
Despite this, the Springboks are leaving the door open for Neill, who last year played for Western Province under-18s, to change his mind and switch his allegiances back to the green and gold.
He will only be captured by Andy Farrell under World Rugby Regulation 8.2 if he plays for Ireland’s senior team, Ireland A or the Irish senior sevens team.
It is only then that the South Africans will have to admit defeat and accept that he won’t be able to play for the Springboks, and his performances could even see him fast-tracked into the senior side by Leinster.
They could then take a leaf out of England’s book, who promoted Northampton Saints wonderkid Henry Pollock from England under-20s into Steve Borthwick’s senior squad, but that does seem unlikely at this stage.
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