17 Test AB to Play for Tonga at World Cup
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Piutau is a fantastic rugby player and he would have played a packet of tests for NZ. However he preferred a packet of money...and all this smacks of wanting cake and eating too...rather than a genuine, heartfelt desire to help out the country where his parents (or ?grandparents) were born. As Johnstone said, if he really had Tongan rugby at heart, he would have declared for them back in the day.
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@raznomore said in 17 Test AB to Play for Tonga at World Cup:
@salacious-crumb said in 17 Test AB to Play for Tonga at World Cup:
I'm seeing Ma'a Nonu's name mentioned, and I'm a huge Nonu fan, but seeing him in a different national rep jersey to me stinks of mercenariness, and 'tho would be good for Tonga, I'm not convinced the optics are good for the game.
It would be a massive coup for Tonga considering he is Samoan....
This post is some of your best work Raz
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@billy-tell its that easy is it? You can't have a desire to rep either country?
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@raznomore as Johnstone alludes to in his article, Piutau made a decision about money to leave, he is now only supposedly considering Tonga because he cant play for the ABs...if there was no restriction on ABs playing offshore do you think he'd still be thinking the same?
The AB jersey is what got him into the position he finds himself today, if he had opted for his heart and went with Tonga years ago, I dont think he would be commanding the salary he is, but he still wants to play international rugby, despite using NZ to help push his value.
The 'romantic' view is they play for thier heritage, but is that helpful to the teams, maybe displacing someone for a RWC...stopping some youngsters committing if they get a shot at say the ABs thinking oh well I can always change later.
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@taniwharugby said in 17 Test AB to Play for Tonga at World Cup:
@raznomore this could be something ¥
Still need citizenship.
The most famous example of people misunderstanding the Olympic loophole was when former NZ7s player David Smith got called up to French 15-a-side squad a few years ago.
Smith did have French citizenship, because he had married a local, but he hadn't played any Olympic qualifying tournaments.
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@raznomore said in 17 Test AB to Play for Tonga at World Cup:
@billy-tell its that easy is it? You can't have a desire to rep either country?
It will all get interesting if Bristol say “you can play 7s to qualify for Tonga...but for the 4 months you are away, we will keep £400,000”.
We’ll see then how altruistic Charles really is.
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Someone who may have played a handful of games, it probably wouldnt bother me ,
But veterans , guys like Mils or Nonu , i wouldnt like to see , they are all black legends , for me it would kind of spoil their legacy
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We all know what would happen. Good young prospects, say Aumua, would be told to play for a PI. Then, with some international experience, we would take him back. Hell we could send some to get experience in England or, cough, take Hadleigh back from Wales if he turns out to be good. And then that would be stopped because that's far worse than the current system.
If it's denying your rights to go from Tier 1 to Tier 2, the it's denying those same rights to do the reverse.
Leave it exactly as it is. FIFA have had that rule forever, because every other rule is worse.
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The eligibility rules are a bit of a farce really aren't they. Should we go down the soccer route where it is citizenship based? I suggest that's the way to go. The problem then is where someone has more than one passport, again there it's probably a case of make a decision and that's it. It would mean likes of Fifita, Naholo, Tamanivalu, Fekitoa etc. more likely to play for country of birth than adopted country.
Some of the rules (grandparents, residency etc.) are very much relics of the amateur era.
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The law of perverse outcomes suggests this won't help PI nations. In fact, it will hinder them. As nations that benefit from the grandparent rule, how much easier will it be for young blokes to hold out in the hope another, richer, nation selects them first allowing them to earn beaucoup money?
Then you've got established players who have put on a few pounds, playing non-competitive leagues electing to represent? What message does that send?
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this is gaining a lot of coverage...although not sure why people think Rugby needs to relax its laws to be like League...
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I would do two things:
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Scrap the second team rule and change it to national teams only - i.e. You play for sevens or fifteen you are permanently tied to that country.
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Ensure all players get the same money per match, regardless of which team they play on. This is NOT club, this is national. Share of the gate going to home players only is clear bullshit and completely unfair and hindering to the PI and the smaller European nations.
I don't have sympathy for Piutau - he made his decisions and used NZ rugby to create a fantastic platform for himself. As many others have and no problem with it myself, but I agree with Johnstone's article in full.
If there was no direct financial incentive and scheduling was fair for all then we would see a slightly different distribution of players in my view. I'd still expect many to strive for ABs / Australia though.
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As I understand they can’t do your first idea for sevens and remain an Olympic sport (can someone confirm?)
Personally, I don’t think rugby should be an Olympic sport. That plus five year eligibility rule, and problem solved.
And fuck you Piutau.
