Ronan O’Gara makes worrying observation about rugby’s new residency rule

Three years has been extended to five but one suspects this is not the last we have seen of the ‘project player’.

World Rugby will now require players to live and play five years in a country in order to become qualified to play for its national team. The extension from 36 to 60 months was announcement by the sport’s governing body last Wednesday and will take effect from January 1st 2021.

While many in rugby have celebrated the rule change, there is a large section out there that believes the sporting body should have went further to address the issue.

Ronan O’Gara feels the rule should have been extended to seven years. The former Ireland international believes nations and clubs will now seek out foreign talents at an even younger age. He shared a worrying story about French sides casting a wide scouting net on The Hard Yards rugby podcast [from 26:00].

“It’s really important that the integrity of the international game is strengthened and upheld,” O’Gara said. “For me, it was basically the minimum [extension].”

Isaac Boss, a former Irish teammate of O’Gara, points out that teams in France and New Zealand are targeting players – “pulled right out of the [Pacific] Islands” – in their late teens and setting them up at local schools. “That’s how they are getting away with the three years and I’d say they’ll still be doing it now that it’s five years,” said Boss.

When that topic was raised, O’Gara was animated in his response.

“It has nothing to do with heritage or people that qualify to play for a country because that is hugely important for people of Irish descendancy play. The issue is with guys that have absolutely nothing to do with a country playing for that country within three years.

“I think it completely dilutes the game. If you want to keep that Irish spirit, which is a key part of what we stand for, the rules have to be changed.”

“It’s happening all over France,” O’Gara continued.

“Imagine you have clubs like Brive who have an academy in Fiji. You maybe just have to sit and reflect on that for a second – that is how far it has gone, in terms of recruiting players.”

Both O’Gara and Boss raise valid points, and a worrying spectre of the recruitment drive for young rugby players kicking it up a gear over the coming months and years.