S Shingler is tied to Wales

First topic message reminder :

Confirmation of the IRB hearing: Shingler case Shame for the lad

HammerofThunor wrote:

Irish Londoner wrote:

gowales wrote:So should Rhys Llewleyn a Bridgend born and bred lad who recentley played for NZ U20 be restricted to only playing for NZ now since they've "invested in him"

Why is he playing for NZ - does he live out there ? More to the point does he consider himself a Welshman or a New Zealander ? And yes if the NZ RFU are spending money on him then yes he should be a Kiwi.

Really? They haven't bought him. He's not a slave they've had to train up for a particular task (they only do that with polynesians ). What about if they decided to go into law? Or become a banker? Or doctor? Damn the traitor! String 'em up I say.

Unions invest in rugby. They do this to maximise the potential of the playing population. They invest in grassroots and schools rugby probably down to U8 level. They do this as they're promoting rugby to all as part of the IRB.

As shame really as if we could claim compensation for 'stolen' players we'd be able to backrupt the SRU (and use it to pay off SANZAR)

No need, Thunor, we've done a decent job ourselves already

I think this is petty and spiteful. IMO the boy does not look International standard to me and so in all probablility will not feature for Wales anyway. I may be wrong but he and his bother were born and raised in England to further complicate matters. I appreciate that there a number of English by birth players in the side at the moment and would really have little argument with those who question Cuthberts inclusion. George.JD and Toby are as Welsh as driving rain, George is a Welsh speaker as I believe in JD and Toby boasts a proper accent.

Let the boy play, his allegiances are mixed who can blame him

dragonbreath
He was born in Swansea and Wales cant just tell him to go and play for Scotland or we would be breaking the rules.

Also he has a lot of potential and I'd be very surprised if he didn't play quite a few times for Wales, particularly with the amount of positions he can cover.

But thats not really the point, as Cymroglan says it's not the WRU's decision and they can't break IRB rules whenever they feel like it, and neither can the SRU. It would have been interesting if he had played for Scotland and then the issue came to light, whether the result would have been declared null and void - the SRU would def have faced a fine.

Still can't understand why the player featured in a an advert proclaiming himself as the possible next Wales No.10, then played in a U20's match he'd been told would tie him to Wales, give an interview saying he's striving to get into the Wales team and then declare himself for Scotland and say he's always felt a huge pull from Scotland, all after tying himself to Wales.

Madness

Smirnoff, I find it interesting that he classed himself as Welsh just a few weeks before declaring himself Scottish, what influence would you think his agent would have had on this change in attitude. Also this game he played against France, he had I understand been playing OH for the Scarlet Region but he could only get into the Wales U20 team as Full Back. Mathew Morgan was the U20 OH for the great majority of that Tournament.
I wonder if said agent had a good look at the players in front of him at Regional and National level and felt it was a lot easier to get International recognition at a different Country, why not pick England as he could have through his father, but then again that would be a very difficult route to International recognition because of the sheer volume of numbers.

gowales wrote:So should Rhys Llewleyn a Bridgend born and bred lad who recentley played for NZ U20 be restricted to only playing for NZ now since they've "invested in him"

This is where it gets a bit tricky imho...

He was in the Ospreys academy up until the age of 17, then moved with his family to New Zealand, where he got picked up in a school team for the Canterbury Crusaders academy side.

Looking at his stats he is still in the Canterbury Knights team which is a development side at the age of 20, and at 5'10 and 14 stone, you have to wonder if he is going to make it, though he is now a right wing not a center. Although he hasn't made it to the full Canterbury side as far as I'm aware, though it would be good for some news from a New Zealander poster on him.

Personally I hope New Zealand do take him and cap him because we have had many players off them, and the only player they have EVER shown an interest in was former Ebbw Vale scrum half David Llewellyn, when very early on in his career he played in New Zealand and was asked by selectors there if he fancied staying on to qualify on residency because they saw potential in him.

In return we have had Hemi Taylor, Dale Mcintosh, Bret Sinkinson, Shane Howarth, etc so we do owe them a few to be fair.

That's strange it says on the IRB website that he was 6'1, 14st during the Junior World Championship, and to be honest he didn't look 5'10.

I don't really know if he has what it takes to make it but if he wanted to play for Wales then he has every right to

gowales wrote:That's strange it says on the IRB website that he was 6'1, 14st during the Junior World Championship, and to be honest he didn't look 5'10.

I don't really know if he has what it takes to make it but if he wanted to play for Wales then he has every right to

Hmm maybe his stats have changed then, I got them off the Crusaders Knights website a while ago. So maybe he has grown a bit in the last few seasons and they were not updated. I would prefer to use the stats you have given us though, that's a lot better!

I guess we will know in the next year or two, because he will need to start making the break through soon.