“Someone like Ben Tapuai is a perfect example of a guy who I recruited to Bath because of that, a former international (with Australia), a really high-level player. I still feel that any of our players that go off to represent another nation makes the club proud, but it clearly complicates it if you have a whole stack of them. “You always recruit with the information that is right in front of you and try not to overthink too much if someone is dual eligible and might be at risk later on. “It’s an interesting one,” admitted Matson. This loosening of the eligibility regulations, however, might have the negative effect of some clubs being hesitant about signing a player whose Test career appears to be over but who can now potentially become eligible for his birth country. Clearly, I have got a history with that.” I haven’t really dug into the laws around how the transfer would happen but for the benefit of world rugby, it is a positive move.
Being a proud Fijian and a proud Kiwi, they are not mutually exclusive so to be able to represent both countries that you hold dear and you have an affinity with is a reasonable ask. I hold my couple of games for Fiji as highly as I held my New Zealand games. “For those of us who were fringe All Blacks or fringe internationals in any game, the ability to play for the country you were born in is priceless. The 2023 World Cup has suddenly just got even tastier as Charles Piutau, for instance, could now soon play for Tonga alongside his fellow ex-All Black Malakai Fekitoa #WorldRugby “I played for Fiji and the All Blacks and I am the only person who has ever done it, which is a shame in my opinion,” said Matson at his weekly Harlequins media briefing ahead of their Gallagher Premiership game this Saturday at home to London Irish. For example, the Fijian-born Sevu Reece could now possibly play for the country of his birth three years after his last cap for the All Blacks. Now 48 and head coach at Harlequins having coached Fiji as an assistant at the 2015 World Cup, Matson is delighted that the Pacific Island nations, in particular, can potentially pick up additional players despite getting capped elsewhere previously.
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