Exodus 2018
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@rapido So basically, if Toni Pulu had played for Niue after the 2014 law change, he would have been deemed (co-)responsible for the eligibility breach and his "capture" might not have been wiped. It seems WR has already sorted this issue years ago. Pulu is just lucky this happened ages ago and Australia may benefit from that if they chose to select him.
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@stargazer said in Exodus 2018:
@rapido So basically, if Toni Pulu had played for Niue after the 2014 law change, he would have been deemed (co-)responsible for the eligibility breach and his "capture" might not have been wiped. It seems WR has already sorted this issue years ago. Pulu is just lucky this happened ages ago and Australia may benefit from that if they chose to select him.
Yeah, that's how I read it.
I can't think of any post 2014 examples though.
So the Tongan who got Romania disqualified. I still don't know what that means. He is tied to Tonga, or hes responsible for tieing himself to two countries - therefore he is ineligible for neither as both rule each other out?
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@rapido As I understand the rules, that Tongan player is still captured by Tonga (only). He can't have tied himself to two countries; that's impossible under the rules. Because he illegally played for Romania after 2014, it's possible for WR to hold him responsible and impose a sanction on both Romania and the player. I don't know whether a sanction has been imposed on the player (haven't looked it up). Apart from any imposed suspension (for example) , he'd be free to play for Tonga if Tonga decided to select him.
Current law:
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World Rugby statement of clarification: Toni Pulu
World Rugby has moved to correct misleading reports that suggest special dispensation has been granted in respect of Toni Pulu’s eligibility. No such dispensation has been granted to the player because none is required. While a 2014 World Rugby Regulations Committee hearing determined that a breach of Regulation 8 had occurred as Pulu was not eligible for Niue, under the regulation as it was at the time, it was the union, not the player, who was culpable for any breach. The union was therefore sanctioned and the player deemed not to be captured by Niue. The regulation has since been reformed to apply joint culpability for union and player, but it is not retrospectively applied. Therefore, subject to meeting current eligibility criteria set out under Regulation 8, Pulu is free to represent a nation for which he has a close & credible link. -
If Aus has to trawl the depths of NZ Super rugby teams to find eligible players, then that speaks volumes about their own depth in stocks. Pulu is a very good winger but must be remembered he will be 30 next year and does pick up a fair few injuries.Think it says more about their own problems than anything else.
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@stargazer so he played for Niue, but they tricked him so he's now allowed to play for Aus?
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@taniwharugby Is that a serious question?
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Is not like he's been called over for the wallabies. It's just a move between clubs and as he Australian eligible he doesn't count towards foreign limits for the Brumbies. A good winger and a good signing for them, but not huge news one the eligibility thing was sorted.
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@bones interesting it's come up now though, given the hearing was in 2014...when he was in form for the chiefs (and uninjured) as is the way, his name was mentioned but was always the ineligibility thing was bought up.
So Niue have said yeah bro, you can play for us, he's gone choice, but turns out he wasnt eligible.
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@taniwharugby yeah I know a few guys who turned out for teams at the Welly sevens that they may not have been eligible for....
I do know the Niue team had a blast at the Comm games!
And is it just me that was bugged by Niue being spelled wrong throughout the whole article?
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And the 'NZ Herald Foot in the Mouth Award' for the
year month weekday goes to.....https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12103333
Oh, for the days when facts were checked before stories were written.
But, of course,like Ratpoo, Gregor Paul isn't a journalist, he's a writer of uninformed opinion.
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@bones Yeah those welly sevens days were before eligibility became a big thing. It didn't matter and if you had injuries you just grabbed whoever was available. If I remember correctly Scott Waldrom made his international sevens debut for Argentina!
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@machpants sounds about right. Even I almost made it on for Samoa I think it was!
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@machpants said in Exodus 2018:
@bones Yeah those welly sevens days were before eligibility became a big thing. It didn't matter and if you had injuries you just grabbed whoever was available. If I remember correctly Scott Waldrom made his international sevens debut for Argentina!
I think those cases were specific in the tournament rules and clearly approved as being outside of eligibility rules in order for the team/tournament to continue.
At one stage I think you could select non playing squad members from other teams as injury replacements.
Pulu appears on official team lists, although the Niue team always looked to be a ring around side for a bit of fun.
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But Anthony Pulu Jr appears as a reserve for FORU 15s final in Noumea in 2008 and there are photos of him playing for Niue in NZ (Growers Stadium) in 2009, when he was the goalkicker. Maybe that was a different Toni Pulu that just looks a bit like him.
Roy Kinikinilau played for Tonga sevens as a substitute - but may well have been eligibile for them as of right - before he played for New Zealand.
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@machpants said in Exodus 2018:
@bones Yeah those welly sevens days were before eligibility became a big thing. It didn't matter and if you had injuries you just grabbed whoever was available. If I remember correctly Scott Waldrom made his international sevens debut for Argentina!
Phillipe Rayasi became Scotland's blackest player in one tournament as well. Great stuff.
