The Indy Rugby Podcast: Will foreign-born players eventually kill international rugby?

The Independent’s Jack de Menezes is joined by fellow rugby writer Duncan Bech to discuss whether the selection of players born abroad by all nations at the Rugby World Cup is harming what the sport offers

The 2019 Rugby World Cup is just three days away from raising the curtain in Tokyo as Japan face Russia, and in a week where if finally felt like interest in the tournament took off, rugby fever is sweeping across the Land of the Rising Sun.

We’ve been right across the latest news in Japan, and joining Jack de Menezes on this episode is the Press Association’s England rugby union correspondent Duncan Bech to talk over what’s been happening at the team’s Miyazaki training base.

But more importantly, they discuss how the selection of foreign-based players is impacting on the state of the sport. Following the strong comments made by England and Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care over his omission – and New Zealand-born Willi Heinz’s inclusion – in the England squad, we ask if it’s right to select players from all over the globe?

On the one hand, players who qualify through parents or grandparents are doing nothing wrong as the current World Rugby laws allow them to do so, while players who spend three years in a country have until now been allowed to pledge allegiance to that nation.

But on the other, should unions stick by the players who have shown a commitment and loyalty to that country by remaining within its system and helping to boost it?

Download the episode here as well as on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast or wherever you listen.

In the next episode, Jack de Menezes will catch up with Samuel Lovett in Tokyo to look forward towards Saturday’s epic encounter between the All Blacks and the Springboks.