Offside Opinion: Residency Players

Pivac has wasted no time in making headlines with
his first training squad.

This week Wayne Pivac became the first new coach to announce a squad, post World Cup. In doing so he made a number of surprise selections, but he also made two that everyone expected. Bringing two former Kiwi's into the Welsh international set up, with Johnny McNicholl and Willis Halaholo having completed the mandatory minimum three-year residency to play for a national team.

Now, let's be clear, I do understand the decision to pick two of the most naturally gifted attackers available to him. Wales were consistently maligned under Gatland for being predictable in attack, and dropping in the dancing feet of Halaholo to midfield, and the free-running of McNicholl to the back field will certainly have an impact on that issue. But I have fundamental issues with their selection, which certainly leaves an ashen taste in my mouth.

1. Talent Blocking
For people who know me, I have argued this point for a long time, pretty much ever since Hadleigh Parkes was given his first start. At the time there was a number of good young players competing for a chance to replace Jamie Roberts. Owen Watkin was just bursting onto the regional scene for the Ospreys, Owen Williams had produced a couple of assured performances the weeks prior, not to mention Scott Williams had plenty of experience already. Yet despite that apparent depth Gatland opted to select a player who had only become "Welsh" a few days earlier.

Watkin has worked hard for years, and will be in
his prime in 2023, but he may be on the bench again.

Two years later and it seems we're in the same situation again. Halaholo is added to the midfield, potentially once again blocking Watkin from a starting berth. Further down the line, the likes of Tyler Morgan, Tiaan Thomas-Weeler, and Harri Millard will struggle to even make it into camp, let alone get caps. Meanwhile, in the back three Wales were already flush with talent, fielding six international quality players across wing and fullback in the World Cup, and there is yet more young talent bursting through the regional game, all of who will now be competing for a place with the Kiwi-born Scarlet McNicholl.

While there is an argument for not rushing young players into test matches, the counterpoint is at 29 now, both Halaholo and McNicholl will be well beyond their prime, especially for the style of game they play, come the next World Cup. Is that really how Pivac wants to begin this new four-year cycle, by denying players crucial caps in favour of players who may not even reach the tournament in France?

2. Value of the Jersey
For most people, the act of pulling on your national jersey is the highest honour you can possibly achieve in sport. You spend your childhood brought up on the heroics of players, with the red of Wales, the white of England, or the black of New Zealand, the ultimate goal for your young mind is to emulate them. Years of your life is spent supporting your nation, cheering from the crowd as tries are scored and cowering behind the sofa as last-minute penalties are lined up. You live and breathe everything about your nation and the pride in your fellow compatriots is what fuels your performances on the field.

To that end what reasonable person believes that a player born and raised in another country will fill the jersey with the same passion and desire? I love Hadleigh Parkes he is a superb player, Halaholo and McNicholl are brilliantly talented. But I can't help but look at the likes of Ken Owens, Jonathan Davies, and the legendary Alun Wyn Jones, and what every moment of every game means to them as players and wonder if it means the same to these "imports". I just can't see those kinds of emotional reactions coming from born and raised Kiwi's playing in the red of Wales.

Is this the new All Blacks away kit? Will the red of Wales mean as much with so many Kiwi's wearing it?

Taking to the field in the national colours should be the goal for every young player in the nation, but surely seeing a man who turned up for three years and was handed that treasured shirt trot out onto the pitch will leave many people alienated. And it could have a further impact. The WRU is currently attempting to utilise the Welsh jersey as a bargaining chip in an effort to keep Welsh players in Wales. A legitimate ploy which proved effective for the All Blacks - a similarly sized nation - for years. Yet players will see "non-Welsh" players getting selected ahead of them and make the argument that if they are going to have to wait behind them, then they might as well earn money in England and France while not playing for Wales.

By reducing the worth of the jersey by selecting players who haven't viewed it as the ultimate goal for more than three years, the WRU could see a large flood of talented young players head across the border over the coming years.

3. Negative Regional Impact
My final issue with the rapid induction of foreign players into the national team, is that these players are lost to the regional game during the crucial international windows. Returning to McNicholl and Halaholo, when the Scarlets and the Blues signed these two players they did so in an effort to bring in talented players who could continue to play even when their Welsh players were away. With their signings now getting selected by Pivac as well, they are left with even more holes than before.

Mulvihill will be left wondering who is going to
replace Halaholo during the 6 Nations.

The regional game is already struggling to compete against the powerhouses of Ireland, in the PRO14, and the English and French in Europe. A further weakening of their squads does not bode well for any kind of resurgence to the top of the table. The Scarlets and Blues are likely to provide a large number of backs to the Welsh squad over the next few years, and will have to expose a lot of young players to the regional game before they should be.

One of the reasons the Irish are able to integrate their academy players so well, is they do it by dropping a couple in at a time surrounded by experienced established players. In Wales, those opportunities are less regular, and reducing the number of talented players who can play throughout the year for the regions, only promises to further expose these young academy players before they're ready.

Is there a solution?
Well, probably not one that we will see for a while, the new 5-year residency rule (which kicks in next year) doesn't entirely fix the issue since players can still migrate across countries and play for their new nations within a single (if long) contract. Instead, I have since swung to the view that a 10-year residency rule is the best solution for all involved. It means that in reality that players will only be able to "switch" allegiance if they move as a youngster and go through the school and academy structure established by the Unions. There will then also be enough time for these players to embed in the national culture and understand what the jersey means.

I don't support the idea of Agustin Pichot, wherein players can only play for the nation of their birth (or parents birth), due to the likes of Taulupe Faletau and the Vunipola's who moved as young children and would have been ineligible for Wales, and England respectively, but would have been under the proposed 10 year rule instead.

What are your thoughts on the residency rules, and how they affect national teams?

Do you agree the residency rule is not fit for purpose?
Or do you think that Pivac, and others, are well justified in selecting these players?