If there was an emergency...

If on the night of the first test Ben Youngs, Mike Phillips and Connor Murray contracted food poisoning and as a result the Lions had to find a replacement in Australia urgently and that player was Brendan McKibbin (born in Scotland but wants to play for the Wallabies) would he then be ineligible for Australia?

Good question. Probably not.

No. Lions are not a National side so it shouldn't bear on his future selection.

I'm hoping Danny Care goes on holiday to Australia just in case this happens...

Are there any eligibility rules for the Lions or could they, in theory, select a team of New Zealanders? Also do Australia gain/ lose ranking points based on the series?

123456789 wrote:Are there any eligibility rules for the Lions or could they, in theory, select a team of New Zealanders? Also do Australia gain/ lose ranking points based on the series?

Yes you have to be eligable to play for Ireland, Scotland, England or Wales. Though in the past ineligable players were selected.

GunsGerms wrote:

123456789 wrote:Are there any eligibility rules for the Lions or could they, in theory, select a team of New Zealanders? Also do Australia gain/ lose ranking points based on the series?

Yes you have to be eligable to play for Ireland, Scotland, England or Wales. Though in the past ineligable players were selected.

What's the punishment if they don't? they can't really be fined can they

You have to be eligible to play for Wales, England, Scotland or Ireland. You do not have to have been capped by those nations, but must be qualified to play for them.

NO ineligable players have ever been capped by the Lions or will be. However, that is not to say, in today's move around society, that an eligable but uncapped player will be selected to play for the Lions and then move to a country outside the Lions group, and find themselves capped by them via the residential rule at a later date. Although, I dont believe this has happened yet.

As for Aus losing IRB ranking points. The answer is NO. The games will not be IRB ranking, hence Austalia wont loose any points when the lose the series 3 - 0


(Same as BaaBaa fixtures, no IRB ranking points on offer or at risk then either....).

So that means McKibben could play for the Lions in test 1 and 2 and then for the Wallabies in test 3.
Brilliant

GunsGerms wrote:

123456789 wrote:Are there any eligibility rules for the Lions or could they, in theory, select a team of New Zealanders? Also do Australia gain/ lose ranking points based on the series?

Yes you have to be eligable to play for Ireland, Scotland, England or Wales. Though in the past ineligable players were selected.

Good old Grannygate.

Is the same thing valid the other way around.

If a player makes his debut for Australia against the Lions can he then switch nationalities.

i.e. this Scottish/Australian eligible lad McKibben. Plays all three Tests against the Lions. Then plays in next seasons 6 Nations for Scotland?

I presume the Lions games (against Australia) have Test status according to the IRB, so any participant would be required to return the eligibility form proving their qualification to play (the form that caused all the controversy in the Shingler case).

As such, it is clear that someone playing for Australia would be tied to them, and I assume that someone selected for the Lions would be required to submit their eligibility form through the appropriate national Union (so in McKibben's case the SRU), tying them to that country.

Could lead to an interesting situation if you had an uncapped Lion who was eligible for more than one of the Lions countries - would he have to nominate his country of eligibility before playing for the Lions?

You don't gain or lose ranking points against the Lions, firstly they don't have an IRB ranking, and secondly, the Lions series in SA had no effect on our ranking at the time

The old food poisoning/virus scare...! Happens every now and again to drastic results.

It wouldn't ruin his chances for Scotland, though playing against a side you wish to play for in the future is a precarious position.