So a short, yet interesting post today, I hope. I got an email from John Slade at Estonian Rugby, so over there the governing body covers not only Union but League as well. The email is about Russian Rugby Unions search for players for their team in the Union World Cup.
“Any New Zealand based rugby player – or indeed anybody from Estonia, if they are willing to travel – who has at least one Russian grandparent and the paperwork to prove it is invited to participate in a couple of trial games overseen by Russia’s coach Steve Diamond and his assistants Henry Paul, the former England and Gloucester centre, and Jos Baxendell, the ex-Sale stalwart.
Helpfully for Diamond, the International Rugby Board eligibility regulations stipulate that a Russian grandparent includes any individual who was born in the old Soviet Union and were citizens of that nation, even though they might effectively come from one of the ‘new nations’ that subsequently separated from the mother country. The net can be cast very wide indeed.”
… and people criticize Rugby League for having heritage players. Interesting food for thought.
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