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South Africa leaves door open for highly rated Josh Neill

Ireland players Donnacha McGuire, left, and Josh Neill celebrate after their side's victory in the U20 Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Ireland and Italy at Virgin Media Park in Cork. (Photo By Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

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.

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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.

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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.

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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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Comments

31 Comments
N
NC 41 days ago

What a beautiful young CHRISTIAN LAD, Giving praise to God for playing for Ireland. Sadly he is a minority as most of you atheist Marxist idiots even though Atheism is a non Axiomatic argument as nobody knows whether God exists. I as a proud Irish Christian am convinced like josh that God is with us. My maybe some you you arrogant Idiots might learn from a proud young Christian that the Christian life, as josh Van Der flier famously said, It's hard but so rewardable.

N
NC 41 days ago

As a proud Irishman from the midland region who played underage with Leinster moons ago. I was born into a Protestant family but we were wholeheartedly Irish, bu after reading what this idiot termed, THE GREEN AND GOLD, When everyone knows that our wonderful flag is Green white and orange, a flag meant for peace between communities, this is part of the reason that although there are 112 rugby schools in Ulster, sadly They sometimes don't feel part of the team, This must to stop

C
CS 44 days ago

Why would he come back… these young white kids have to deal with the quota system and never mind the stiff competition, more and more white kids are leaving for France, Scotland and Ireland because of the quota system, my son is off to France or Scotland when he leaves school, affirmative action should not be a part of sport. South Africans are under this illusion that SA rugby is in a good place… if you knew how many young white kids are pouring out of the country you'd think differently.

H
Hammer Head 43 days ago

Don’t you want to go with him?

J
JD 44 days ago

Nothing more than clickbait, guys. “Leaving the door open”??? Who closed it? Who even mentioned that there is a door? Promising young player, yes, but as others have said, we’re not short of loose forwards. If he wants to play for Ireland, good luck to him. Nobody here is going to lose any sleep over it.

C
CS 44 days ago

No… we are short of quality loose forwards, he's not the only young talent that's left, we're stuck with all the quota players because overseas clubs don't want them, they're snapping up all our young white talent. The myth that SA rugby is healthy is just that, yes in the short term SA looks good, but the spin off of what's happening with the number of players leaving will be catastrophe.

S
SM 45 days ago

Why are we obsessing over one kid? We produce thousands of rugby players every year.He made his choice just let him be

C
CS 44 days ago

Because it's not just “one kid” it's hundreds of kids just like him leaving the country because of the quota system.

G
GrahamVF 45 days ago

Young man go forth and make your fortune. The one thing South Africa are not short of is loose forwards.

D
DP 45 days ago

Plenty of quality backrowers in SA. Good luck to the lad, he’s made his choice.

C
CS 44 days ago

No… not actually, the quota kids are being pushed ahead of our quality white players… why do you think Josh left for Ireland in the first place?.

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