Residency rule a blight on rugby – Irish great

Irish rugby great Tony Ward has criticised Ireland’s selection of ‘‘Paddy-come-latelies’’ – including New Zealanders Bundee Aki and Jared Payne – and has welcomed World Rugby’s move to extend the residential qualification period to five years.

The former British and Irish Lions first five-eighth – writing in the Irish Independent – said the ‘‘glut of inter-country transfers’’ was a blight on rugby and the move to a five-year residency qualification criterion ‘‘could not come quick enough’’.

Ward, who won 19 Irish caps between 1978 and 1987, said Ireland was not the only nation at fault. Former Scotland and Lions No 8 Johnny Beattie told him before the Scotland-ireland test in Edinburgh that ‘‘14 of the squad of [Scotland’s] squad of 23 . . . did not learn their rugby in Scotland’’.

‘‘Make of that what you will, but the bottom line is that this false patriotism [not in every case, I might add] is endemic in every nation in the northern hemisphere.

‘‘To the best of my knowledge, it is not yet working in reverse, although there are splintered examples, with London-born fullback John Gallagher [of Irish parentage] central to the New Zealand World Cup-winning team of 1987.

‘‘I am sure there are others, but they are very few and far between as the southern hemisphere has been much more protective of the worth of homeproduced players.’’

Ward, who admitted he might be in a minority of one, said he ‘‘detested’’ World Rugby’s residency rule, which has been ‘‘adopted to the letter by the IRFU and by the Irish team management’’.

‘‘Players like CJ Stander [and I don’t care how well he sings the anthem], Quinn Roux, Bundee Aki, Jared Payne and so on are all of the highest quality, but they are not Irish.

‘‘The IRFU, and by extension Joe Schmidt and his fellow selectors, are simply applying the rules, but the rules are wrong. Even a five-year incubation period has me ill at ease, but better that than the current threeyear country-of-convenience clause that is attached to most overseas contracts.’’

Ward said the principle of ‘‘Paddy-come-latelies’’ getting Irish caps over those ‘‘born, bred and nurtured’’ in Ireland, or those with Irish lineage.

‘‘This is not a cut at individual players. Stander is an obvious example. I love his style and commitment, but that still doesn’t make him Irish and certainly doesn’t make the system right.’’

Ward said Ireland’s selection policy was at odds with its reluctance to select Irish players based at overseas clubs.

‘‘It is difficult to argue against the IRFU aspiration to discourage an exodus of talent at the cost of the national team and that maybe a drip will become a flood.

‘‘It is neither black nor white and there should be shades of grey. But irrespective of recent success, I am uncomfortable with a system that favours non-irish players over indigenous ones, particularly those who have come up through the ranks.’’