The Nations Championship begins in July 2026. The competition sees the regular July November International windows being replaced with tournament matches. Twelve teams will be divided into two groups: the Six Nations and the Rest of the World. They are England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in one group and Argentina, Australia, Fiji, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa in the other.
The competition will provide insight into potential Rugby World Cup selection for the twelve competitors. The rosters contain Foreign-Born players and homegrown players. The respective player rosters contain a variety of nationalities with players qualifying in a number of ways. This article documents who they are.
 WORLD RUGBY ELIGIBILITY LAWS |
Players must fulfill specific eligibility criteria in order to play in the Nations Championship. Under World Rugby’s Regulation 8, a player complies by satisfying one or more of the following conditions: (a) being born in the country; (b) having one parent or grandparent born in the country; (c) being registered exclusively with a Union or Rugby Body in the country for the sixty months immediately preceding the time of playing; or (d) completing ten years of cumulative residency preceding the time of playing.
World Rugby has altered its eligibility rules regularly. A change in November 2025 enables England to select a former South Africa 20 player who was born and raised in South Africa and moved to England as an adult as a fully professional rugby player. The change was made at the request of England.
The same law that enables England to select Benhard Janse van Rensburg is the same one that previously punished teams to the extent that Spain was disqualified from Rugby World Cup Qualifying. Spain paid the price for having fielded France u20 players. It serves as an example of incoherent management of eligibility laws by World Rugby.
Former World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont oversaw eligibility changes to allow players to represent a second country following a three-year stand-down period after their last binding representative appearance for the first country. These changes occurred after World Rugby disqualified Romania from a Rugby World Cup for fielding a former Tonga 7s player in qualifying.
Beaumont’s eligibility law change benefited Scotland, which went on to select former England and Australia players for a World Cup, after Romania was punished during his tenure.
When green-lighting players a means of changing allegiance, World Rugby stated that the change would provide “a real boost to the competitiveness of emerging nations.” Empirical evidence suggests this was a misleading declaration. On the one hand Pita-Gus Sowakula has returned from New Zealand to his native Fiji. On the other hand, Alex Hodgman, Aidan Ross, Jack Dempsey, Alec Hepburn, and Henry Thomas all changed from one Tier 1 team to another.
Georgia and Uruguay are homegrown-centric teams; neither has benefited from players changing allegiance. Instead, both faced Australia with Jack Dempsey at Rugby World Cup 2019 while Tonga faced Scotland with Dempsey at Rugby World Cup 2023. Similarly, Henry Thomas changed allegiance in time to play for Wales against Georgia in 2023. Such examples question the validity of the statement by World Rugby chief executive, Alan Gilpin, who argued that the eligibility change would boost the global game.
Before Australia last hosted a Rugby World Cup back in 2003, Russia was expelled by World Rugby (then IRB) from RWC 2003 qualifying. It happened after Scotland and Wales were retrospectively caught breaching eligibility laws at Rugby World Cup 1999. Dave Hilton was not eligible for Scotland and Shane Howarth and Brett Sinkinson were not eligible for Wales. Both Scotland and Wales were free to compete at RWC 2023. World Rugby is yet to publicly overturn results from 1999 to correct the match outcomes to 28-0 wins for Scotland’s and Wales’ RWC 1999 opponents.
 RUGBY WORLD CUPS – FOREIGN-BORN DATA |
| PURPOSE OF THE ARTICLE |
This article details the foreign-born players selected for the 2026 Nations Championship. It documents who they are, their qualification pathways, and relevant primary sources. The article also identifies whether or not each player is homegrown based on where they developed prior to their senior careers. This provides comparable insight into the ability of unions to develop and retain their own players from youth levels, while demonstrating which of the twelve competitors are obtaining players from rivals.
Homegrown players are highlighted in blue within the homegrown category of the respective tables. Players designated in this color are products of the team they are representing—meaning the union they represent was primarily responsible for the player’s development. Conversely, red indicates that the player is the product of the rugby system of a different country.
This is an original work researched and written by Paul Tait of Americas Rugby News.
 SCOTLAND |
Scotland’s roster contains 22 forwards and 14 backs. 7 of the forwards (31.8%) were not born in Scotland while 8 of the backs (57.1%) of the backs are foreign-born. 14 of the 15 not born in Scotland did not play in Scotland prior to being professional adult rugby players.
Eight of these players previously represented rivals—all being the rugby union in which the individual player was homegrown. South Africa tops the list with former U20 players Nathan McBeth, Pierre Schoeman, and Duhan van der Merwe on the Scottish roster. The Canadian-born Ewan Ashman was raised in England.
The captain is Sione Tuipulotu who is Australian. Under former eligibility requirements he would not be eligible for Scotland. Moreover, his representative duty is comparable to that which saw other teams disqualified from Rugby World Cup Qualifiers. In his appearances for Australia U20, Tuipulotu played against France, Italy, South Africa and Wales in U20 matches, at a time when the U20 side was designated as the official next senior national representative team (capturing side).
Scrum-half Ben White formerly played for his native England and No 8. Jack Dempsey played for his native Australia. Neither player was developed by the Scottish rugby system and both, like Tuipulotu, are grandparent-qualified. Another such player is New Zealander Fergus Burke who debuted for Scotland before ever having played a rugby match in Scotland.
Scotland’s roster contains three residency players—the same as at Rugby World Cups 2023, 2019, and 2015. However, the timing of when these three contemporary players acquired residency implies that Scotland is capturing fewer residency players than prior to the law change. New Zealander Tom Jordan qualified after the law change extending residency from three to five years residency, while South Africans Pierre Schoeman and Duhan van der Merwe qualified for Scotland narrowly before the alteration.
HOMEGROWN: 61.1% (22/36)
| PLAYER | BORN | PRODUCED | POS | ELIGIBILITY | OTHER REP. |
| Nathan McBeth | South Africa | South Africa | LH | Grandparent | South Africa U18, u20 |
| Pierre Schoeman | South Africa | South Africa | LH | Residency (2021) | South Africa u18, U20 |
| Ewan Ashman | Canada | England | HK | Parent | – |
| Will Hurd | England | England | TH | Grandparent | – |
| Elliot Millar Mills | England | England | TH | Parent | – |
| Josh Bayliss | England | England | FL | Grandparent | England U20 |
| Jack Dempsey | Australia | Australia | N8 | Grandparent | Australia Schools, Australia U20, Australia |
| Ben White | England | England | SH | Grandparent | England U20, England |
| Fergus Burke | New Zealand | New Zealand | FH | Grandparent | New Zealand U20 |
| Tom Jordan | New Zealand | New Zealand | FH | Residency (2024) | – |
| Rory Hutchinson | England | England | CE | Grandparent | – |
| Sione Tuipulotu | Australia | Australia | CE | Grandparent | Australia Schools, Australia U20 |
| Kyle Rowe | England | Scotland | WI | Cumulative Residency | – |
| Kyle Steyn | South Africa | South Africa | WI | Parent | – |
| Duhan van der Merwe | South Africa | South Africa | WI | Residency (2020) | South Africa Schools, South Africa U20 |
 JAPAN |
Eddie Jones named a roster of 35 players for the Nations Championship. The former Head Coach of both Australia and England included 19 forwards and 16 backs. 10 of the forwards (52.6) were not born in Japan and 3 of the backs (18.6%) are from other countries.
In terms of birth, the players come from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, South Africa, Thailand and Tonga. Both of the players born in New Zealand are homegrown Japanese players. Captain Warner Dearns moved to Japan aged 14 and former captain Michael Leitch moved from New Zealand to Japan at the age of 15.
Dearns and Leitch are joined by Tiennan Costley who was born in Australia but raised in New Zealand. He attended Westlake Boys High School in Auckland and moved to Japan aged 18 to study at International Pacific University (IPU) in Okayama Prefecture.
Two Australian homegrown players were born elsewhere. First, Dylan Riley was born in South Africa but started playing rugby aged 10 in Australia and moved to Japan aged 21. Second, Ben Gunter, who as born in Thailand, qualified for Japan on residency in 2019 but did not debut for Japan until 2021.
Izi Sword was born and raised in Australia. He started playing for Takushoku University in Tokyo at the age of 18. Tongan Samisoni Tua graduated from the Setsunan University Faculty of Law in 2018. However, his eligibility for Japan was delayed until 2024 as a result of residency changes. Fijian Inoke Burua graduated from Ryutsu Keizai University and Waisake Raratubua joined Tokai University in Tokyo from Fiji in 2018.
Harry Hockings left Australia to play in Japan due to a pay dispute. He became eligible to play for Japan at the age of 27. Fellow Australian second-rower, Jack Cornelsen qualified for Japan aged 25. His father, Greg Cornelsen earned 25 caps for Australia. 27-year-old Esei Haangana became eligible for Japan in 2026.
Unlike Scotland and Ireland (shown below) there does not appear to be any conclusive change in Japan’s selections resulting from the residency change from three to five years. Japan’s residency numbers were 10 at Rugby World Cup 2015 compared to 15 at RWC 2019 and 16 at RWC 2023. There are 13 for July 2026, including five who qualified in 2023-2026. Overall, players are making Japan their homes which is a differential factor; indeed, Tom Jordan and Duhan van der Merwe both signed for English clubs after making their Scotland debuts.
HOMEGROWN: 68.5% (24/35)
| PLAYER | BORN | PRODUCED | POS | ELIGIBILITY | OTHER REP. |
| Izi Sword | Australia | Australia | LH | Residency (2025) | – |
| Jack Cornelsen | Australia | Australia | LO | Residency (2020) | – |
| Warner Dearns | New Zealand | Japan | LO | Residency (2018) | – |
| Harry Hockings | Australia | Australia | LO | Residency (2025) | Australia U20 |
| Michael Stolberg | Australia | Australia | LO | Residency (2019) | – |
| Esei Haangana | Australia | Australia | FL | Residency (2026) | Australia U20 |
| Tiennan Costley | Australia | New Zealand | FL | Residency (2021) | – |
| Ben Gunter | Thailand | Australia | FL | Residency (2020) | – |
| Michael Leitch | New Zealand | Japan | FL | Residency (2007) | – |
| Waisake Raratubua | Fiji | Fiji | FL | Residency (2023) | Fiji U20 |
| Dylan Riley | South Africa | Australia | CE | Residency (2021) | Australia U20 |
| Samisoni Tua | Tonga | Tonga | CE | Residency (2024) | – |
| Inoke Burua | Fiji | Fiji | WI | Residency (2021) | – |
 FIJI |
Over the decades, New Zealand has had a reputation of playing poaching, specifically from the Pacific Islands. The argument has been that the trio of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga have long been deprived access to their players with them boosting the All Blacks instead. However, this could be described at best as an over-simplification and more realistically with one word: untrue.
The data shows that Samoa and Tonga have benefited tremendously from New Zealand players with Fiji being different to its Pacific Island neighbors. For instance, Samoa had 13 New Zealanders on their roster at Rugby World Cup 2015. At the same tournament New Zealand had 0 players born or raised in Samoa. The All Blacks roster had 2 players from Tonga and 1 from Fiji. In comparison, Tonga had 8 New Zealanders and Fiji had 0.
Rugby World Cup 2019 saw Tonga overtaking Samoa to have more foreign-born players. Tonga’s roster had 19 not from Tonga, 17 of whom were New Zealand players. Samoa had 18 players born and raised in other countries, 15 of them were New Zealanders. In comparison, Fiji and New Zealand both had four foreign-born players. Fiji did not have New Zealand players while New Zealand had 1 from Fiji who moved aged 17.
The Rugby World Cup 2023 rosters again suggested that Fiji is different to Samoa and Tonga. Samoa’s reliance on foreign-born players increased to 24 players from other countries and meant just 5 out of the 33 on the roster were homegrown. Samoa had 21 New Zealand-born players while Tonga had 16 from New Zealand and 23 of the players were not from Tonga.
New Zealand had no players from Fiji on their roster for Rugby World Cup 2023. In terms of birth, the 2023 All Blacks roster contained 1 from Samoa and 4 from Tonga. Fiji had 2 New Zealanders on their Rugby World Cup 2023 roster and a third withdrew based on injury.
Fiji’s roster for the Nations Championship is not consistent with the three aforementioned Fijian Rugby World Cup squads. The roster has eight players born outside of Fiji. None of them are homegrown Fijian players. Five of them were born and raised in New Zealand while one was born and raised in Australia and two were born and raised in England.
The roster contains former All Black Pita-Gus Sowakula. He made his Super Rugby debut for the Chiefs in 2018 at the age of 23. He was an All Black in 2022 and makes the allegiance change to his native Fiji at the age of 31. Unlike Jack Dempsey playing for Scotland, Sowakula is an example that supports the claim that the eligibility amendment to switch nations boosts the competitiveness of emerging nations.
Fiji’s roster also contains New Zealander Salesi Rayasi, a man who formerly played 7s for New Zealand and U20 rugby for Samoa. He has Samoan and German heritage through his mother and his father is from Fiji and is a former Fijian test player. Fiji has a notably higher World Ranking than both Samoa and Germany.
HOMEGROWN: 75% (24/32)
| PLAYER | BORN | PRODUCED | POS | ELIGIBILITY | OTHER REP. |
| Sam Matavesi | England | England | HK | Parent | – |
| Zuriel Togiatama | New Zealand | New Zealand | HK | Parent | – |
| Tim Hoyt | England | England | TH | Parent | England U20 |
| Isoa Nasilasila | Australia | Australia | LO | Parent | – |
| Pita-Gus Sowakula | Fiji | Fiji | FL | Birth Country | New Zealand; Fiji U19 Basketball |
| Sam Wye | New Zealand | New Zealand | SH | Parent | |
| Caleb Muntz | New Zealand | New Zealand | FH | Grandparent | – |
| Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula | New Zealand | New Zealand | FH | Parent | – |
| Salesi Rayasi | New Zealand | New Zealand | WI | Parent | New Zealand 7’s; Samoa U20 |
 ITALY |
Italy have been big improvers during the Rugby World Cup 2023-2027 cycle. Is there a correlation between increased use of Foreign-Born players and non-homegrown Italians? The data suggests that there is not.
The Italian roster at Rugby World Cup 2023 featured 13/34 (38.2%) not born in the country and 21/34 (61.7%) of the roster members were homegrown players. For the 2026 Six Nations the corresponding numbers were 10/36 (27.7%) born abroad and 25/36 (69.4%) homegrown.
Under the tutelage of Gonzalo Quesada, the percentage of Foreign-Born players has decreased, compared to from RWC 2023, and the percentage of homegrown players has increased. The percentage of homegrown players has risen to 75% for the July Internationals in the 2026 Nations Championship.
Quesada’s roster contains 33 players and 3 more included on an invitational basis. 9 of the 36 players were not born in Italy. They include Muhamad Hasa and Ion Neculai who moved to Italy as children and are products of the Italian rugby system. The remaining players born abroad were all developed in countries other than Italy.
The roster also contains 2 players born in Italy that are not homegrown. Louis Lynagh was born in Italy but raised in England. He is the son of Australian great Michael Lynagh and brother of Wallaby, Tom Lynagh. Louis Lynagh moved to England aged 4 while Tommaso Allan moved from Italy to England aged 7.
HOMEGROWN: 75% (27/36)
| PLAYER | BORN | HOMEGROWN | POS | ELIGIBILITY | OTHER REP. |
| Ivan Nemer | Argentina | Argentina | LH | Grandparent | Argentina U18, U20 |
| Pablo Dimcheff | Argentina | Argentina | HK | Grandparent | Argentina U20 |
| Muhamad Hasa | Albania | Italy | HK | Residency (2014) | – |
| Ion Neculai | Moldova | Italy | TH | Residency (2006) | – |
| Ross Vintcent | South Africa | UAE | N8 | Grandparent | – |
| Stephen Varney | Wales | Wales | SH | Parent | – |
| Juan Ignacio Brex | Argentina | Argentina | CE | Grandparent | Argentina U19, U20, 7s, XV |
| Paolo Odogwu | England | England | CE | Parent | England U18, U20 |
| Montana Ioane | Australia | Australia | WI | Residency (2020) | – |
| Louis Lynagh | Italy | England | WI | Born in Italy | England U16, U18, U19 |
| Tommaso Allan | Italy | England | FB | Born in Italy | Scotland U20 |
 AUSTRALIA |
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt named a 37-man roster for the July Internationals against Ireland, France and Italy as part of the Nations Championship. The roster contains 2 born in Australia who were raised abroad and 7 others who were not born in Australia. Qualification comes via country of birth, parent and residency.
The players can be categorized into two groups: (a) players who arrived young to be developed by Australian rugby and (b) players who were primarily developed by unions other than Australian rugby.
Four of the players not born in Australian are homegrown Wallabies. First, Josh Canham played all of his rugby in Australia after moving as a child. Second, Brandon Paenga-Amosa moved to Australia aged 4. Third, Harry Potter moved to Australia aged 10. Fourth, Max Jorgensen was born in England. His father, Peter Jorgensen, was a Wallaby in 1992 and a professional rugby league player.
Five members of the 37-man roster are not homegrown; that is to say, 5 players were not primarily developed by Australian rugby. Two moved to New Zealand as children. First, Aiden Ross moved to New Zealand aged 8 and went through the system all the way to playing for New Zealand U20s, playing Super Rugby in the country and playing for the All Blacks. Second, Len Ikitau was born in Australia but moved to New Zealand before returning to Australia in his early teens.
The roster contains a connection to the Pacific Island trio of Tonga, Samoa and Fiji. First, Taniela Tupou moved to Australia to play professional rugby aged 18 and qualified for the Wallabies as an adult. Second, Hunter Paisami was born in Samoa and played for Samoa u20; however, he went through the New Zealand system playing u14 and u16 levels before moving to Australia at the age of 17. Third, Filipo Daugunu was recruited from the Fiji 7’s program in 2016 to Super Rugby aged 20.
A unique eligibility case involves flanker Carlo Tizzano. He is Australian born and raised but was approached by former Italian Coach Kieran Crowley when he was uncapped.
The data means that 86.49% of Australia’s 37-man roster is homegrown. This is a slight fall from 88.37% from the 2025 Rugby Championship and is also a fall from 88% in 2024 and from 91% at Rugby World Cup 2023. Of note is that Aidan Ross would not be eligible under prior eligibility laws.
HOMEGROWN: 86.49% (32/37)
| PLAYER | BORN | HOMEGROWN | POS | ELIGIBILITY | OTHER REP. |
| Aidan Ross | Australia | New Zealand | LH | Birth Country | New Zealand, All Blacks XV, New Zealand U20 |
| Brandon Paenga-Amosa | New Zealand | Australia | HK | Residency (2002) | – |
| Taniela Tupou | Tonga | Tonga | TH | Residency (2017) | Tonga U15 |
| Josh Canham | USA | Australia | LO | Parent | – |
| Len Ikitau | Australia | New Zealand | CE | Born in Australia | – |
| Hunter Paisami | Samoa | New Zealand | CE | Residency (2018) | Samoa U20 |
| Filipo Daugunu | Fiji | Fiji | WI | Residency (2019) | Fiji U20 |
| Harry Potter | England | Australia | WI | Residency (2011) | – |
| Max Jorgensen | England | Australia | FB | Parent | – |
Steve Tandy finalized a 33-man roster to represent Wales. 2 players were born in England but raised in Wales. Ben Carter moved to Wales weeks after his birth and Max Llewellyn is also Welsh homegrown. His father, Gareth Llewellyn played for the Harlequins and Ospreys and earned 92 caps for Wales. Max Llewellyn attended Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf in Cardiff. The same school produced fellow roster members Teddy Williams and Mason Grady.
The roster contains uncapped players Ben Warren and Kane James. Both were born in Wales but Kane James moved to England aged 16 on a scholarship from Sedbergh School. James is one of five of members of the roster who attended schools in England. Sam Costelow spent some years at Oakham School. Similarly, Louis Rees-Zammit spent pre-adult years in England at Hartpury College. Tommy Reffell was schooled in England from the age of 15 and entered the Leicester Tigers academy aged 16.
A contrasting case is that of James Botham who moved to England aged 2. He came off the production line at Sedbergh school in Cumbria after also having attended Cundall Manor School in England. Another is Taine Plumtree who was recruited to play in Wales as a professional rugby player from the Blues in Super Rugby.
In addition to Plumtree, Wales Rugby staff recruited Blair Murray from New Zealand’s professional rugby system. Murray debuted for the Scarlets two months before debuting for Wales against Fiji at the age of 23.
A final case is that of Ellis Mee whom Wales also acquired from abroad. Wales used under-the-radar cross-border scouting with former Welsh player James Davies scanning the lower English leagues for hidden talent. Davies did extensive homework on Ellis, discovering his maternal Welsh qualification. James was directly involved in Wales acquiring both Blair Murray and Ellis Mee.
HOMEGROWN 87.88% (29/33)
| PLAYER | BORN | HOMEGROWN | POS | ELIGIBILITY | OTHER REP. |
| Ben Carter | England | Wales | LO | Residency (2004) | – |
| James Botham | Wales | England | FL | Born in Wales | – |
| Taine Plumtree | Wales | New Zealand | FL | Born in Wales | New Zealand U20 |
| Max Llewellyn | England | Wales | CE | Parent | – |
| Ellis Mee | England | England | FB | Parent | – |
| Blair Murray | New Zealand | New Zealand | WI | Parent | New Zealand Schools |
 FRANCE |
Fabien Galthié originally named a 33-man roster to represent France at the Nations Championship in July. The roster was expanded to include Montpellier and Toulouse players after the Top 14 Final. The complete roster contains 42 players with Paul Graou replacing Antoine Dupont who was forced-out after being named.
The roster includes 6 players who were not born in France. All of them were born in countries that are regular RWC competitors. Of them, one is homegrown as Émilien Gailleton moved to France at the age of 3.
The remaining five are not homegrown French players. Two were recruited by professional clubs as academy players. Moses Alo-Emile was recruited Stade Français from Australia at the age of 18 and Tavita Tatafu moved to Bayonne aged 17.
Tom Staniforth arrived in France as a professional rugby player produced by the Australian system. He became eligible for France at the age of 31. Fellow second-rower and Australian product Emmanuel Meafou became eligible aged 25. Canadian Tyler Duguid, who was capped by France in 2025, has not been selected. He is now attached to France and cannot play for Canada at RWC 2027.
Uncapped winger Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang moved to France to pursue a professional rugby career at age 19. He has previous experience playing for France 7s as well as representative duty in his native England.
Sipili Falatea was born in Wallis and Futuna, a French overseas territory. Wallis and Futuna is a part of France and people born there hold French passports. Falatea moved to Metropolitan France at the age of 18. Similarly, Peato Mauvaka was born in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia. He moved to Metropolitan France aged 14.
The overall percentage of homegrown players is very consistent with that from the 2026 Six Nations. Galthié’s roster then was 88.7%. It has increased to 87.88% for the Nations Championship.
HOMEGROWN: 88.37% (38/43)
| PLAYER | BORN | HOMEGROWN | POS | ELIGIBILITY | OTHER REP. |
| Moses Alo-Emile | Australia | Australia | LH | Residency (2023) | Queensland School Boys, Australian Schools Barbarians |
| Tevita Tatafu | Tonga | Tonga | TH | Residency (2024) | – |
| Emmanuel Meafou | New Zealand | Australia | LO | Residency (2023) | – |
| Tom Staniforth | Australia | Australia | LO | Residency (2025) | Australia U20 |
| Émilien Gailleton | England | France | CE | Parent | – |
| Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang | England | England | WI | Parent | England Counties U18 |
 IRELAND |
Andy Farrell’s 36-man Irish roster contains 6 players born abroad. In the case of Ireland this means six players were not born in either the Republic of Ireland or in Northern Ireland.
Two changes were made to the roster following the United Rugby Championship (URC) Final. In terms of eligibility the changes were straight-swaps with Irish born and raised Bryn Ward and Zac Ward replacing Caelan Doris and Tommy O’Brien.
The touring roster features 4 foreign-born players who are homegrown. Jeremy Loughman moved to Ireland aged 12 while Joe McCarthy and Ciarán Frawley both arrived in Ireland at the age of 3 and Cormac Izuchukwu moved to Ireland aged 7.
The roster also contains one Irish-born player who is not homegrown. Tom O’Toole was born in Ireland but went through the Australian system. He played for the Queensland School Boys and a Queensland Reds development side. Ireland’s Australian connection also includes Ciaran Frawley who moved to Ireland aged 3.
A third category of players on the roster are players who were neither from Ireland nor homegrown. Bundee Aki and Jamison Gibson-Park were recruited from New Zealand Super Rugby franchises as professional adult rugby players with the deliberate purpose of meeting the residency requirements, via eligibility laws, to play for Ireland. Both arrived in Ireland aged 24.
Newcomer Sean Jansen left New Zealand to play for the Leicester Tigers in England in 2022. He moved to Ireland to play for Connacht in 2023 and debuted for the URC team at the age of 24.
The overall numbers represent an increase to 88.8% homegrown compared to 85% in the 2026 Six Nations tournament and 78.7% at Rugby World Cup 2023. In addition, Ireland’s July 2026 roster contains a reduced quantity of Foreign-Born players.
The reduction in residency players matches that of Scotland. That is to say, altering the requirement from three years to five years coincides with Ireland capturing fewer players via residency. Ireland’s three residency qualified players at Rugby World Cup 2023 all qualified prior to the law change.
HOMEGROWN: 88.89% (32/36)
| PLAYER | BORN | HOMEGROWN | POS | ELIGIBILITY | OTHER REP. |
| Jeremy Loughman | USA | Ireland | LH | Parent | – |
| Tom O’Toole | Ireland | Australia | TH | Born in Ireland | – |
| Cormac Izuchukwu | England | Ireland | LO | Parent | – |
| Joe McCarthy | USA | Ireland | LO | Parent | – |
| Sean Jansen | New Zealand | New Zealand | N8 | Grandparent | – |
| Jamison Gibson-Park | New Zealand | New Zealand | SH | Residency (2019) | New Zealand Māori |
| Ciarán Frawley | Australia | Ireland | FH | Parent | – |
| Bundee Aki | New Zealand | New Zealand | CE | Residency (2017) | – |
 NEW ZEALAND |
New Zealand coach Dave Rennie named a 34-man roster for the All Blacks’ home matches in July. Five of the players selected were not born in New Zealand. They are all forwards with two qualifying via a parent and three via residency. All 15 of the backs were born and raised in New Zealand.
Props Ethan de Groot and Tyrel Lomax were born in Australia to New Zealand parents. Ethan de Groot moved to new Zealand aged 2 while Lomax moved young but returned to live in Australia between the ages of 13 and 21. He played rugby league as a child in both countries and switched to rugby at high school in Canberra. His father, John Lomax, was a professional rugby league player for the Canberra Raiders.
The residency qualified players are of two varieties. First, one player and qualified via residency while still of a child age. Second, two players obtained All Black eligibility at adult ages. Wallace Sititi is of the former category. He was born in Samoa and lived in Scotland, Japan and New Zealand a a child. His father, Semo Sititi, was a professional rugby player. Wallace Sititi started playing rugby in 2013 in Auckland.
Samisoni Taukei’aho and Anton Segner qualified to play for New Zealand at adult ages. Samisoni Taukei’aho moved to New Zealand aged 16. Newcomer, Anton Segner was born in Germany and first moved to New Zealand on a scholarship aged 15.
The All Blacks’ roster announcement listed Tamaiti Williams, Scott Barrett, Fabian Holland, and Leicester Fainga’anuku as not included due to injuries. Williams, Holland and Fainga’anuku were not born in New Zealand. Moreover, Williams and Holland are not homegrown All Blacks.
HOMEGROWN: 91.18% (34/34)
| PLAYER | BORN | HOMEGROWN | POS | ELIGIBILITY | OTHER REP. |
| Ethan De Groot | Australia | New Zealand | LH | Parent | – |
| Samisoni Taukei’aho | Tonga | Tonga | HK | Residency (2017) | Tonga U19 |
| Tyrel Lomax | Australia | Australia | TH | Parent | Australia Schools, Australia U20 |
| Anton Segner | Germany | Germany | FL | Residency (2023) | Germany U16 |
| Wallace Sititi | Samoa | New Zealand | FL | Residency (2016) | – |
 ENGLAND |
Steve Borthwick opted for a 36-man roster for the Nations Championship. England play South Africa away, Fiji at home and Argentina away in that order. Three of the 36 players were not born in England. All three are backs and they all qualify differently.
Marcus Smith is a second generation test player; his father played rugby for Hong Kong. Marcus Smith was born in the Philippines and first played rugby in Singapore. He moved to England aged 13 and represented England U18s and U20.
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is grandparent qualified for England. He was both born and raised in Wales and as recently as 2023 he had dreams of playing for Wales.
Newcomer Benhard Janse van Rensburg played for England XV vs France XV before being eligible to represent England. Moreover, he has been selected by England for the Nations Cup despite not being eligible in time to play against his own country, South Africa on July 04.
van Rensburg himself previously criticized players not playing for their own country. “It means so much more for your kids, if one day I tell them If I played for England they would look at me like why? Why did you do that?”
He became eligible for England after England Rugby (RFU) requested that they could select a player that was not eligible. World Rugby deemed that the former South African u20 player could change allegiance to England. The same law that England requested to be changed is the one that disqualified Spain from RWC 2019 Qualifiers.
Steve Borthwick’s forwards are 100% English born and homegrown. This is a change from the 2026 Six Nations roster which included Bevan Rodd, Emmanuel Iyogun and Sam Underhill who were born abroad. Borthwick has also not included Chandler Cunningham-South who was born in England but raised in New Zealand.
HOMEGROWN: 94.44% (34/36)
| PLAYER | BORN | HOMEGROWN | POS | ELIGIBILITY | OTHER REP. |
| Marcus Smith | Philippines | England | FH | Parent | – |
| Benhard Janse van Rensburg | South Africa | South Africa | WI | Residency (2026) | |
| Immanuel Feyi-Waboso | Wales | Wales | WI | Grandparent | Wales U18 |
 SOUTH AFRICA |
Rassie Erasmus’ 46-man Springboks roster contains 45 players born in South Africa and one born abroad. Vincent Tshituka was born in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1998. His family escaped political violence and arrived in South Africa as refugees in 2002. As such, the roster is 100% homegrown and 2.17% Foreign-Born.
All 46 members of the roster are homegrown South Africans. This comes with a striking feature of several high schools being traditional rugby powerhouses. A total of sixteen players attended three high schools: Paul Roos Gymnasium, Paarl Boys’ High School and Paarl Gimnasium.
Six players: Ben-Jason Dixon, Herschel Jantjies, Riley Norton, Andre-Hugo Venter, Edwin van der Merwe and Damian Willemse all attended Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch. Five attended Paarl Boys’ High School: Thomas du Toit, Cameron Hanekom, Evan Ross, Max Thompson and Jaco Williams. A further five attended Paarl Gimnasium: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Johan Grobbelaar, Quan Horn, Handre Pollard, and Grant Williams.
Grey College in Bloemfontein and Maritzburg College in Pietermaritzburg both produced two members of the roster. Meanwhile, Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool in Pretoria produced both Ruben van Heerden and Scotland prop, Pierre Schoeman.
HOMEGROWN: 100% (46/46)
| PLAYER | BORN | HOMEGROWN | POS | ELIGIBILITY | OTHER REP. |
| Vincent Tshituka | Democratic Republic of the Congo | South Africa | FL | Residency (2005) | – |
 ARGENTINA |
Felipe Contepomi named a 34-man roster to train for the inaugural Nations Cup. The players were all born and raised in Argentina. Agustín Sarelli was added a week before the opening match.
The roster provides insight into the continued development of rugby in the country. Buenos Aires contributed 27 of the 31 (87.1%) Pumas who competed at Rugby World Cup 2007. In contrast, 15/35 (42.8%) of the 2026 roster are from Buenos Aires province. In addition, Córdoba province has 9 now compared to 0 in 2007 and Tucumán has 4 in 2026 compared to 1 in 2007.
The growth of the sport has also seen evolution. One example is Marcos Kremer, the first ever Puma from Concordia. Another is Tucumán, a rugby heartland stereotypically associated with dominant scrums and as being a factory for props; indeed, Omar Hasan was Tucumán’s player at Rugby World Cup 2007. However, 75% of the contemporary Tucumán Pumas are backs: Tomás Albornoz, Mateo Carreras, and Gonzalo García.
HOMEGROWN (100%) 35/35
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