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Six Nations defectors: 40 players who swapped allegiances

(Photo by Mark Fletcher/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Since 2000, a player has not been allowed to represent two different senior international sides during their Test career, which is a ruling that is constantly being scrutinised. Before then, plenty of players played for two countries, including some greats of the game.

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However, there is nothing stopping players from representing junior sides or even playing in unofficial matches before defecting to play for another Test side.

The Six Nations is awash with players who have done this, so here are some who have defected to another county during their career.

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Cameron Redpath tells RugbyPass All Access why he chose Scotland over England

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Cameron Redpath tells RugbyPass All Access why he chose Scotland over England

ENGLAND

BRAD SHIELDS
The eight-cap England flanker was not only a member of New Zealand’s U20s side earlier in his career, but was a member of an All Blacks training squad in 2012.

Six Nations
Eddie Jones and Denny Solomona (Photo by Getty Images)

BRAD BARRITT
Saracens’ recently retired captain may have won 26 caps for England during his career, but he represented the Emerging Springboks in 2007 in the IRB Nations Cup, as well as South Africa U21s the year before.

NATHAN HUGHES
The 22-cap England international and current Bristol No8 played for Fiji Warriors in their victorious 2013 Pacific Rugby Cup campaign.

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BEN TE’O
In a varied career, he played rugby league for Samoa in 2008 before eventually playing union for England and the 2017 British and Irish Lions.

DENNY SOLOMONA
Like Te’o, the Sale Sharks winer played for Samoa in rugby league in 2016.

IRELAND

CJ STANDER
The back row captained South Africa U20s and trained with the Springboks in 2012 before joining Munster and later playing for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions.

MIKE HALEY
Munster’s one-cap full-back represented England Saxons against South Africa A in 2016 as well as an uncapped match against the Barbarians in 2017 before moving to Munster in 2018.

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JAMES LOWE
Leinster’s winger was capped by Ireland in the autumn but had previously played for the Maori All Blacks, starting 2014 against Japan and finishing against the 2017 Lions in Rotorua.

Haley
Nick Isiekwe (right) celebrates with England team-mate Mike Haley /Getty

JAMISON GIBSON-PARK
Like Lowe, the Leinster scrum-half was capped by Ireland in the autumn having previously represented the Maori All Blacks.

BILLY BURNS
Ulster’s out-half was part of the England U20s that not only won the World Championship in 2014, but saw many of its players scatter over Europe.

WILL ADDISON
Ulster’s full-back represented England U20s in 2012.

RICHARD STRAUSS
The ex-Leinster hooker who was capped by Ireland won the 2005 U19s World Championship with South Africa and was a cousin of former Springboks hooker Adriaan Strauss.

WALES

NICK TOMPKINS
The Dragons centre was another member of England’s U20s World Championship-winning side. He furthermore played for England Saxons against South Africa A in 2016 alongside Ireland’s Haley.

CALLUM SHEEDY
Like Tompkins, the Brostol out-half was capped for Wales in 2020 having played for England in some capacity. Although born in Cardiff, he came off the bench for England against the Barbarians in an uncapped match in 2019.

Six Nations
Callum Sheedy (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

JOHNNY WILLIAMS
The final member of a trio of Welsh debutants last year who have worn an England shirt, the Scarlets centre started in the Barbarians fixture in 2019.

GARETH ANSCOMBE
Ospreys’ fly-half represented New Zealand at U20s level in 2011.

ROSS MORIARTY
The Dragons loose forward was a member of the England U20s side alongside Tompkins in 2014.

SCOTLAND

CAMERON REDPATH
The latest call-up to the Scotland squad, Bath’s midfielder was called into Eddie Jones’ England training camp last year.

GARY GRAHAM
Newcastle’s forward was a member of an England squad in the past (2018 Six Nations), but he was born in Scotland, had represented their U20s side and has been capped twice Gregor Townsend.

SEAN MAITLAND
Saracens’ winger has been a feature for Scotland since 2013, but he previously represented the Maori All Blacks in 2010 and New Zealand U20s in 2008.

maitland russell
Scotland’s Sean Maitland

BLADE THOMSON
Scarlets’ loose forward has had a similar career to Maitland, as he too played for the Maori All Blacks on multiple occasions and New Zealand U20s in 2010.

CHRIS HARRIS
Gloucester’s centre represented England Counties in 2013.

OLI KEBBLE
Glasgow Warriors’ loosehead earned his first cap in the autumn having won the World Rugby U20s Championship with South Africa in 2012.

DUHAN VAN DER MERWE
Another newly capped Scotland player, the winger played with Handre Pollard and Jesse Kriel for South Africa U20s in 2014.

Edinburgh <a href=
Glasgow PRO14″ width=”1920″ height=”1080″ /> Duhan van Der Merwe (Photo by Ross Parker/SNS Group via Getty Images)

CORNELL DU PREEZ
Worcester Warriors’ back row played for South Africa U20s in 2011.

ALLAN DELL
London Irish’s loosehead was a member of the same world champion South African age-geade side as Kebble in 2012.

SAM SKINNER
Exeter Chiefs’ lock was capped by Scotland in 2018 despite playing for England U20s in 2015.

Sam Skinner tunnel Scotland
Exeter’s Sam Skinner has played at Test level with Scotland

TOMMY SEYMOUR
The Glasgow Warriors and ex-Scotland winger was born in the USA and represented Ireland U19s in 2007.

JOHN HARDIE
Scotland’s ex-flanker played alongside Maitland for New Zealand U20s.

FRANCE

PAUL WILLEMSE
Montpellier’s bruising lock was in the same South Africa U20s side as Scotland’s Kebble and Dell.

VIRIMI VAKATAWA
Racing 92’s midfielder represented Fiji U19s in 2009 before becoming a France 7s player in 2013 and later a Test centre.

Vakatawa touted No1
France’s Virimi Vakatawa has been dubbed the best player in the world currently (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

UINI ATONIO
The New Zealand-born La Rochelle tighthead played for Samoa U20s in 2009.

ANTOINE CLAASSEN
Racing 92’s ex-France flanker represented South Africa U19s way back in 2003.

ITALY

JAYDEN HAYWARD
Benetton’s full-back was part of New Zealand 7s training camp under Gordon Tietjens in 2007.

BRAM STEYN
Like Kebble, Dell and Willemse, Benetton’s flanker was also a world champion in 2012 with South Africa U20s.

DAVE SISI
Zebre’s lock played for England U20s in 2012 and 2013 before switching to play for Italy in 2019.

IAN McKINLEY
The former fly-half was capped by Ireland U20s in 2009 before resurrecting his career in Italy after being blinded in one eye.

CALLUM BRALEY
Another teammate of Wales’ Moriarty and Tompkins, and Ireland’s Burns for the world-beating 2014 England U20s, the Benetton scrum-half debuted for Italy in 2019. 

DEAN BUDD
The ex-Italy captain represented New Zealand U19s in 2005.

LUKE McLEAN
Although he earned 89-caps for Italy during his career, the former full-back won the U19s World Championship with Australia in 2006.

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J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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