The hot topic of foreign-born players returns. The upcoming 2018 Six Nations Championship will see the finest European teams battling it out in the annual competition.

The topic in question is hugely popular as people both criticize and defend the use of players from abroad. The extent, though, in which some countries have been utilizing the system to nationalize talent over three years saw World Rugby take action in 2017, setting new regulations which, from 2020, require players to have five years of consecutive residency or 10 years of cumulative residency.

At Rugby World Cup 2015 19 of the 20 countries had foreign-born players. Some of the Six Nations’ unions were high on the list. Foreign-born player numbers have fluctuated per country since then. Changes to roster personal for the upcoming edition are reflected below.

All told, the 2018 Six Nations will have a grand total of 21 nations represented. The Americas contributes to this list through Argentina, Canada, and the USA. No continent is absent.

The Celtic nations each have players born in England. In total 17 English players will play for other nations. The next highest producers, by birth, are New Zealand with 13 players selected.

For a complete list of foreign-born players in the 2016 Six Nations click here.

For a complete list of foreign-born players in the 2017 Six Nations click here.

SCOTLAND (23)

The country with the most foreign-born players in the 2018 Six Nations is Scotland. Gregor Townsend’s roster of 40 players initially featured 19 from abroad. This represented an increase from 14 in 2016 and 18 in 2017. Of note is that seven players qualify via a Grandparent. With only two fully professional franchises and a limited pool of exiles to draw from, Scottish rugby continues to cast its net as widely as possible in the search for eligible talent. In mid-February 2018 Townsend called-up additional players born abroad – W.P. Nel, Josh Strauss, Tim Swinson, and Tim Visser.

PLAYER POS PLACE OF BIRTH ELIGIBILITY Simon Berghan TH New Zealand Grandparent WP. Nel TH South Africa Residency (2015) Tim Swinson LO England Parent Ben Toolis LO Australia Parent John Barclay FL Hong Kong Parent Luke Hamilton FL Wales Parent Rob Harley FL England Parent Hamish Watson FL England Grandparent Ryan Wilson FL England Grandparent David Denton N8 Zimbabwe Parent Cornell du Preez N8 South Africa Residency (2016) Josh Strauss N8 South Africa Residency (2015) Nathan Fowles SH England Grandparent Ali Price SH England Parent Henry Pyrgos SH England Parent Nick Grigg CE New Zealand Grandparent Chris Harris CE England Grandparent Duncan Taylor CE England Parent Sean Maitland WI New Zealand Grandparent Byron McGuigan WI Namibia Parent Tommy Seymour WI USA Parent Tim Visser WI Netherlands Residency (2013) Ruaridh Jackson FB England Parent

ENGLAND (11)

Former Head Coach Stuart Lancaster had three foreign born players on his World Cup roster. Eddie Jones immediately made personal changes in 2016 and this has continued until 2018. The RFU firmly backs the change to five years residency despite instances such as Nathan Hughes. Ben Te’o and Denny Solomona played rugby league for Samoa in 2008 and 2016 respectively. The trio of Sam Underhill, Nathan Earle and Marcus Smith were raised in England.

Gary Graham is an interesting case. His father is former Scotland prop George Graham who was living in Carlisle, England, at the time of Gary’s birth and drove over the border to ensure his son was born in Scotland. Gary himself represented Scotland at u20 level and under the old regulations would not have qualified for England after moving to Scotland to play for Gala. Should he be capped he will be the first player to do so under the new 10-year cumulative residency regulation.

PLAYER POS PLACE OF BIRTH ELIGIBILITY Alec Hepburn LH Australia Parent Mako Vunipola LH New Zealand Residency (2008) Dylan Hartley HO New Zealand Parent Don Armand FL Zimbabwe Grandparent Gary Graham FL Scotland Residency (2003) Sam Underhill FL USA Parent Nathan Hughes No 8 Fiji Residency (2016) Marcus Smith FH Philippines Parent Ben Te’o CE New Zealand Parent Nathan Earle WI Hong Kong Parent Denny Solomona WI New Zealand Residency (2017)

IRELAND (9)

Ireland’s policy of restricting places in their provincial sides for Irish-eligible players has had the knock-on effect of an increase in the number of ‘project players’, meaning imports who qualify, or will qualify, on residency. World Rugby’s change from three to five years residency may see that stance altered.

CJ Stander and Bundee Aki were both officially targeted by Ireland as uncapped in their native countries who could play for Ireland. The overall number of foreign-born players has increased from six in the 2017 Six Nations to nine for the 2018 tournament.

PLAYER POS PLACE OF BIRTH ELIGIBILITY Rob Herring HO South Africa Grandparent Ultan Dillane LO France Parent Quinn Roux LO South Africa Residency (2015) Jordi Murphy FL Spain Parent CJ Stander N8 South Africa Residency (2015) Kieran Marmion SH England Parent Luke McGrath SH Canada Parent Joey Carbery FH New Zealand Parent Bundee Aki CE New Zealand Residency (2017)

WALES (9)

The Welsh roster for the 2016 Six Nations tournament included 13 foreign-born players, in 2017 it was 10. For this year the number has fallen one more to nine. Hallam Amos, Taulupe Faletau, George North and Aaron Shingler all grew up in Wales, having moved there as children.

Ross Moriarty played for England u20’s before being called up to follow in his father’s footsteps to play for Wales. Gareth Anscombe played for New Zealand u20’s and is the son of former Canada coach Mark Anscombe. His mother is from Cardiff, Wales. Hadleigh Parkes debuted on the same day that he completed three-years eligibility.

PLAYER POS PLACE OF BIRTH ELIGIBILITY Tomas Francis TH England Grandparent Aaron Shingler FL England Residency (1992) Ross Moriarty FL England Parent Taulupe Faletau N8 Tonga Residency (2001) Gareth Anscombe FH New Zealand Parent Hadleigh Parkes CE New Zealand Residency (2017) Hallam Amos WI England Residency (2001) Alex Cuthbert WI England Parent George North WI England Parent

ITALY (8)

Jacques Brunel coached Italy in the 2016 Six Nations. He had 10 players born abroad. In both 2017 and 2018 his replacement, Conor O’Shea selected 8. For the 2018 competition O’Shea has been forced to play without Ornel Gega. Selection, meanwhile, sees Joshua Furno and Luke McLean overlooked. The Argentine-Italian Sergio Parisse continues to captain the team. Often criticized as failing to produce home-grown talent, Italy is fielding fewer players from abroad than many rivals.

PLAYER POS PLACE OF BIRTH ELIGIBILITY George Biagi LO Scotland Parent Dean Budd LO New Zealand Residency (2015) Sebastian Negri FL Zimbabwe Parent Jake Polledri FL England Grandparent Braam Steyn FL South Africa Residency (2015) Sergio Parisse N8 Argentina Parent Ian McKinley FH Ireland Residency (2017) Jayden Hayward FB New Zealand Residency (2017)

FRANCE (3)

Philippe Saint-André took 10 foreign-born players to RWC 2015. Guy Novès had four a year ago while new coach Jacques Brunel named three in his squad. Newcomer Cedate Gomes Sa left his native Guinea-Bissau aged 10 to live in Portugal and then aged 12 he moved to France. Dany Priso arrived in France at age 11 from Cameroon.

Sébastien Vaha’amahina was born in New Caledonia, a French territory in the South Pacific that could well become independent in the relatively near future. None of Saint-André’s 10 foreign-born players have been selected by Brunel. Fijian Virimi Vakatawa is into his third Six Nations campaign.