THE man who runs Scottish rugby has fiercely defended his union's policy of bringing in players from across the world, many with no Scottish links at all, in the hope that they could be good enough to qualify for the national team on residential grounds.
Mark Dodson, the chief executive of the Scottish Rugby Union, was speaking the day after Cornell du Preez, the Edinburgh flanker from South Africa, announced his intention of trying to qualify for Scotland after three years' residency. He also confirmed that most of the other uncapped players being brought in from overseas are expected to commit themselves to Scotland as part of a long-term project to strengthen the national side.
At the same time, he acknowledged, that it would be "hypocritical" if the Scottish Rugby Union were to try to stop a Scotland-eligible player from switching countries if he wants to, such as Tommy Allan, the fly-half who played for Scotland through the age-grade levels but has now been included in the Italian training squad preparing for their November Tests.
"He is part of our plans and remains part of our plans," Dodson insisted. "We talked to him on the Thursday before the Italy squad was announced. Tommy has some choices to make and we respect the choices he makes. If he wants to come back to Scotland we would be opened minded to that; if he wants to go to Italy we wish him all the best in the world.
"If you look at the number of players coming over to Scotland from their own country, it would be hypocritical if we were outraged when somebody else makes that move. We have got to be mature and say it is entirely Tommy's decision."
As far as the national side is concerned, he is unapologetic about scouring the globe for players prepared to throw in their future with Scotland. The way Dodson sees it, across sports and across the planet, everybody else is doing the same, so for Scottish rugby to refuse to join in would be counterproductive.
"When you look at what happens round the rest of the world - what happens in England, and even with Tim Visser coming over here - this is a global marketplace," Dodson said. "We either play our part in that or we don't. Much though he [Du Preez] has followed Alan Solomons over here to Edinburgh you can't blame the boy for having a look at playing for Scotland. You saw the quality in his performance against Munster and he is only going to get better. We have got him young and he is a high-quality player - he has been throughout his career.
"Our criteria for bringing people across is that they either have to be very, very different from anything we have got here and who will leave some IP [legacy] with Scottish rugby when they have gone; or they have to be qualified or can qualify for Scotland."
A player such as Niko Matawalu would qualify under the first criteria - somebody who had already been capped by Fiji before he arrived in Scotland but can be so brilliant on his day that he brings out the best in the Scottish players around him and helps bring them up a level. Last season Glasgow only truly clicked into a formidable attacking unit when he started to win regular selection at scrum-half, his favourite and best position.
Just looking at last weekend, the team's four tries in Toulon all came after he was switched from wing, where he started, to scrum-half. Though the transformation was caused by a number of factors, including Toulon dropping off the pace after having secured their try bonus before half-time, it would have been harder for Glasgow to show the same attacking edge with a more orthodox scrum-half.
The policy also, however, takes in the likes of Du Preez and Willem Nel at Edinburgh, plus Mike Cusack and Josh Strauss at Glasgow, who have never played for their native countries and could represent Scotland once they fulfil the residency qualification. Others in the same boat at Edinburgh include Sean Cox, Izak van der Westhuizen and Perry Parker, the three locks. While Mike Coman and Sam Beard have yet to arrive in the capital from New Zealand, Dodson made it clear that they will also be expected to follow suit.
On top of bringing in players who might qualify in the future there been a few summer signings of players with Scottish ancestry who could, in theory, be picked now. Tyrone Holmes at Glasgow plus Grayson Hart and Ollie Atkins at Edinburgh all have Scottish parents or grandparents. None, however, has yet managed to command places in their club sides, making it improbable that they will feature next month.
In fact, like all the "project" players, there is no guarantee they will ever play for Scotland, which makes it different from the policy of the late 1990s, when professional rugby was in its infancy and players arrived on the promise of a cap. If they are good enough they will stay, and if they remain in Scotland then they can fight for a place in the national side on the same footing as any other qualified player.
"I don't want to bring people over and expect them to show allegiance to Scotland straight away. We bought them primarily to do a job for their club but have made sure we are buying people who are either as good as people who have left, or better, and can have a qualification for Scotland if possible," Dodson added.
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