RFU ramp up war of words over Shields

England Rugby officials have reopened the debate over Brad Shields eligibility by insisting that there is no reason why they cannot pick the Hurricanes captain.

RFU chief executive Steve Brown is bullish over the selection of the flanker for the three-Test tour of South Africa, which begins on June 9th in Johannesburg.

“Regulation nine is clear and understood by everybody,” Brown told The Times.

“If we find ourselves in that situation (where there is a dispute with the NZRU) we will rely on the World Rugby regulation.”

Shields was a try scorer for the Hurricanes in their 43-15 Super Rugby victory over the Sunwolves in Wellington on Friday.

He has not heard from New Zealand Rugby over whether he will be granted permission to tour South Africa with England.

Speaking ahead of the match against the Sunwolves, Shields said the situation was “out of my control”.

New Zealand Rugby chief executive Stew Tew last week confirmed the loose forward officially requested to be released from his contract in order to play for Eddie Jones’ side during the Test window in June.

Tew said the governing body would not “muck around” with making a decision, but Wasps-bound Hurricanes skipper Shields says he is still in the dark.

“I haven’t heard anything yet,” Shields said.

“It’s out of my control and my focus is on the game this week, and has been for the last couple of weeks.

“All I need to worry about is playing good rugby and whatever happens from here is out of my control.”

The New Zealand-born 27-year-old says he remains as hungry as ever to start his international career with England.

“When I signed over in England playing Tests was obviously part of the plans,” he said.

“As a player, your goal is always to play at that next level and that’s my goal and always has been.”

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Last week Tew spoke to the ongoing issue over Shields.

“He’s contracted to New Zealand until the end of Super Rugby and so the World Rugby regulations don’t apply per se because he’s committed himself to New Zealand, but he is a long-standing and loyal servant of the game and has put a request in.

“We’re looking at that and are considering the ramifications of releasing him to England in the middle of a competition he is committed to. We haven’t made a final decision yet.”

Tew said that NZ Rugby wouldn’t waste time on making a final decision.

“We’re not going to muck around. There’s no point in taking weeks when he and England need a decision faster than that.”

Tew acknowledged Shields’ status as a long-standing figure in New Zealand rugby, and said that would be taken into account when making a final decision.

“We would treat any request from our employees on its merits, and will take in account all sorts of factors. There is no point not acknowledging that Brad has been a very very good servant of the game for a long period of time.

“If he had been picked for the All Blacks we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I’m picking he would have committed to New Zealand for a lot longer. But he hasn’t that cut and has now taken a different direction. He has asked for a dispensation and we will give it some serious consideration.”

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