Eligibility Rules, Okay

Thornley used the word 'abuse' in relation to the grandparent rule - have there been examples of this rule being abused?

I think everybody will agree that the residency rule is open to rampant abuse.

When someone has 25% Irish blood in his veins, I'd have thought it's a far better qualification than living in Ireland for a few years for, in effect, work/career purposes. Something doesn't sit very well with me regarding the prospect of Jared Payne taking over Brian O'Driscoll's jersey but this is on the back of a season where none of the 4 provinces were coached by an Irishman while the likes of Bernard Jackman, Mark McCall, Eddie O'Sullivan and Conor O'Shea ply their trade abroad. It's very difficult to pin down the cultural identity of Irish rugby. I think maybe that's why Munster supporters tend to be so vociferous.

Originally Posted by geysir

Clearly an eligibility rule can be abused by a country and still stay within the legalities of the rule. A player can be bribed/incentivised to accept a 3 year residency and a new nationality. That's an abuse of the eligibility rule even if the incentive /bribe cannot be proven or even if it was not mentioned clearly in the rules. The 3 year residency rule is open to being blatantly abused by bribes. There is a hole big enough to drive a truck through the 3 year residency rule. Same way Qatar abused the eligibility rules in football.
You can get tangled in knots about the PC distinctions between abuse and exploit, but cynical exploitation of the rule by offering contracts/incentives is an abuse. That action defines the word in that context
Thornley used the word 'abuse' appropriately

I'm not all that au fait with the goings on within rugby, but I can't really disagree with any of that. As osarusan mentions, however, Thornley also states that the grandparent rule is being abused.

Originally Posted by Olé Olé

When someone has 25% Irish blood in his veins, I'd have thought it's a far better qualification than living in Ireland for a few years for, in effect, work/career purposes. Something doesn't sit very well with me regarding the prospect of Jared Payne taking over Brian O'Driscoll's jersey but this is on the back of a season where none of the 4 provinces were coached by an Irishman while the likes of Bernard Jackman, Mark McCall, Eddie O'Sullivan and Conor O'Shea ply their trade abroad. It's very difficult to pin down the cultural identity of Irish rugby. I think maybe that's why Munster supporters tend to be so vociferous.

Just pointing out that Anthony Foley will be the head coach for Munster next season

Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

I'm not sure what you mean by that. We had a debate about global rugby at Birkbeck College in London last week and the rugby "insiders" on the panel seemed to think that social mobility in rugby was a pipe dream and that the institutional arrangements were almost designed to lock out the developing nations, as per cricket.

I suspect this in part refers to the proposal by New Zealand that players capped by tier one nations, after a certain amount of time has passed, should be allowed to (re)declare for their country of birth or ancestry and continue their international (ie a New Zealand player of Samoan lineage should be allowed to play for Samoa after his All Black career is finished, but not vice versa). It has been opposed by most of the other major unions, including Ireland.

I would love to hear about examples of how the grandparent rules are being abused. The rugby buffs on boards.ie are all over such things and would have commented on it if true. Two NZ players who may join Irish teams this year and are Irish qualified are Michael Collins ( not him!) and Brenda O'Connor. Boards members are very confident of their eligibility, maybe Thornley was referring to one of these players? They are often disparaging of Thornley's articles.

On foreign coaches, Schimdt has brought a whole new level of professionalism to the Irish job and unlike Irish coaches has given youth a chance which is a great thing. Munster are the only province with a 100% Irish coaching ticket and it will be interesting to see how they go next season. The reason we have foreign coaches is because they are the best available.

Stutts, on some of your comments above, I agree that the IRB are toothless and are part of the problem with rugby. Their recent handling of the English demands and result in relation to European rugby is an example of this. Such now is the threat to Irish competitiveness in these competitions that the likes of Bundee Aki declaring for Ireland will increase, not decrease. The IRFU know well that people will overcome their misgivings on this issue if teams are ultimately successful. While I understand and appreciate people's opinions, if Aki leads Ireland to a Grand Slam and shows commitment and dedication to the cause like Strauss has, no rugby fan in Ireland will really give a damn.

THIS IS THE FUTURE NOW!


https://twitter.com/irbjuniors/statu...47575823122433

If only beating Fiji and Wales led to such optimism in football.

http://www.persianfootball.com/forum...om-Bohemian-FC

Things didn't work out at Burnley and he ended up back in Ireland with Bohs. Is Yadolahi still at Bohs? is he any good? He's open to playing for Iran.

Originally Posted by TheOneWhoKnocks

http://www.persianfootball.com/forum...om-Bohemian-FC

Things didn't work out at Burnley and he ended up back in Ireland with Bohs. Is Yadolahi still at Bohs? is he any good? He's open to playing for Iran.

That thread degenerated pretty quickly.

I didn't even know he'd signed for Bohs. It seems he was released at the end of last season.

Not the greatest article, but get their general point. I think.
http://www.businessinsider.com/world...igrants-2014-6

Originally Posted by ArdeeBhoy

Not the greatest article, but get their general point. I think.
http://www.businessinsider.com/world...igrants-2014-6

Not sure why they don't put England in there. Raheem Sterling was born in Jamaica and Danny Welbeck's parents are Ghanaian with both having started against Italy.

Originally Posted by Olé Olé

Danny Welbeck's parents are Ghanaian with both having started against Italy.

no wonder they lost really.

Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

no wonder they lost really.

What's your name - Scott Chipperfield? It's an Australian racial furore!

Originally Posted by ArdeeBhoy

Not the greatest article, but get their general point. I think.
http://www.businessinsider.com/world...igrants-2014-6

According to James Richardson on last night's World Cup Daily (at 16:18), on top of their actual 23-man squads, France and Germany are the best-represented nations at the tournament with 16 extra players and 18 extra players participating respectively who would be eligible to play for them except for the fact they are representing other countries.

I know it's not football, but it has been mentioned on here in the past (I think):

Rory McIlroy ends speculation and declares for Ireland for next Olympics:
http://www.thescore.ie/rory-mcilroy-...24016-Jun2014/

RORY MCILROY HAS ended the long-running debate over his Olympic status and finally declared his intention to represent Ireland in Rio.

Bookmakers immediately made him a 7/1 shot to bring home a gold medal for Ireland in 2016.

“I’m very happy with my decision,” McIlroy said this afternoon. “I just thought it was the right thing to do.”

Be more interested in the odds on him 'changing' his mind, when the, er, promises of a premature demise start rolling in?

Paddy Barnes isn't too thrilled about it, going by his twitter account: https://twitter.com/paddyb_ireland

Does Rory pass the Stutts gut test?
No.

But I'd rather have him in our team than not.
I'd rather golf wasn't in the Olympics.

And I hope GMAC hops on board.

Surely any 'gut' test is the sole preserve of darts players.

The best thing about Rory Mac, is the unionist constituency who're convinced he belongs exclusively to them.
Forgetting it's a GB or Ireland team. Or nothing.

Originally Posted by BonnieShels

Does Rory pass the Stutts gut test?
No.

But I'd rather have him in our team than not.
I'd rather golf wasn't in the Olympics.

And I hope GMAC hops on board.

GMAC has always been on board, as Paddy pointed out when publicly notifying McIlroy of his having failed the Stutts gut test.