World Rugby has made another change to its regulations regarding international eligibility. Gone is the five-year consecutive residency regulation, which has instead been replaced by five-year ‘registration’. The latest alteration will make it easier for athletes to play for a country they have not been born in or qualify for through the birthplace of a parent or grandparent.
Specifically, the change has been made to Regulation 8.1(c), which now reads:
“the player has been registered exclusively with a Union or Rugby Body in the country for sixty months immediately preceding the time of playing”
Previously, the regulation required players to physically reside in the country they were attempting to qualify for during the 60-month (5 years) period. There was a travel allowance during the qualification period, which required players to provide passport evidence that they did not leave the country for more than 60 days (2 months) during any calendar year.
The change to the regulation discards that travel allowance, requiring only for the player to be registered with one union. For example, a player from New Zealand attempting to qualify for the USA can do so provided they only play rugby within the USA for five years. The player can now return home to New Zealand for any length of time during that five-year period as long as they don’t play any rugby while they are away from the USA.
Conversely, a player who resides in one country but regularly crosses the border to play for a club in another country would no longer satisfy the five-year regulation. That player would have to register for a club within the country they are living in. Those cases are rare but do occur, with former Wales prop Chris Horsman an example having played his club rugby for Worcester in England while living in Wales.
Spanish fans may feel further aggrieved by the change. The Leones were effectively disqualified from participation at the 2023 World Cup after it was ruled that South African front rower Gavin van den Berg had played for the country during qualifier matches after breaking the previous consecutive residency regulation, though it’s not immediately clear if van den Berg had in fact played any club rugby during his time away from Spain.
The full explanatory guidelines for the new regulation are as follows:
This will have some implications in Major League Rugby. Some players who had previously been considered ineligible for the Eagles now US-qualified and considered domestic. MLR has a strict limit on selection for non-domestic (Canadian or American) players, with a standard of 10 import players within any match day 23. Teams can trade up to two slots, however, meaning there is a minimum limit of 8 and maximum of 12 for any given team during the season.
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