World Rugby: players not selected for three years can change their federation once

The World Rugby Council has approved an amendment to Regulation 8 governing the representation of national teams that will now allow an international player to change federations once, an amendment that will come into effect from 01/01/2022, announced the body on 24/11/2021.

"In order to transfer from one union to another, a player will need to achieve the below criteria:
• The player must stand-down from international rugby for 36 months
• The player must either be born in the country to which they wish to transfer or have a parent or grandparent born in that country
• A player may only change union once and each case will be subject to approval by the World Rugby Regulations Committee to preserve integrity," continued World Rugby, which has been asked to make this change by emerging nations hoping to recapture players who have passed through the major nations (Rugby Championship + 6 Nations Tournament).

Regulation 8 previously stipulated "that a player may only represent one union at international level, save for specific circumstances relating to participation in the Olympic…