‘We’ve got to use our resources’

As the countdown continues to Ireland’s first game of the Guinness Series against South Africa on November 8, the competition for places is beginning to intensify.

Leinster’s Pro12 encounter with Munster on Saturday week is an excellent platform for both sets of players to impress Joe Schmidt, while Connacht’s recent triumph over the Blues offered a potential glimpse into the future.

Another accomplished display in the latter further enhanced the reputation of 21-year-old centre Robbie Henshaw, but as he aims to nail down a place in the Green Army’s midfield, he may find himself ousted by the naturalised Jared Payne.

Despite being born and raised in New Zealand, Payne is now fully qualified after plying his trade with Ulster for the past three years.

Speaking yesterday in the Aviva Stadium, former Leinster hooker Shane Byrne feels the possibility of Payne being selected ahead of Henshaw is harsh on the Athlone man, but can nevertheless see the benefits if it leads to the best players being chosen in the best positions.

“He’s in competition, but the principle of it? Okay, well that opens up a much bigger debate. Whether the whole rugby naturalisation thing should be the case, but the one thing is that we bat way above our weight in the player numbers that we have,” the Aughrim native remarked.

“We’ve got to use the resources we have. I think the best man should be in the best position. I can’t say that its right, but these are the rules that everyone else is using.”

For some, three years is seen as being too soon for a player to become eligible for international level. Byrne doesn’t feel this way, though, and believes that when you consider the short time-span of a rugby career, in addition to the limited player base Ireland currently has, it is something that needs to be exploited.

“I suppose the debate on that is that a rugby career is a very, very finite thing. Not even a rugby career, but a rugby career that gets you playing internationals is even shorter. How long do you wait to get that resource? Do you make it four? Do you make it five years? Then you’re pretty much negating the ability to do this.

“Because there is a raft of guys, you guys can probably name more than I, for whom it has worked and it has been very successful, and they’ve been much loved because of it. It is a delicate situation. I think it’s more of a situation for the likes of France, who have enormous playing numbers. We, Scotland, Wales have a very limited player advantage number-wise, and the debate will always continue.”

However, although Byrne has no major issue with the addition of naturalised players to the international scene, he was eager to stress they have to be able to make a difference, and shouldn’t just be there to pick up cheap caps.

“No matter what happens. No matter how bloomin’ naturalised a guy gets, he still has to be the best man. There shouldn’t be cheap caps given. There shouldn’t be, as there was in the 90s, ‘just give him a cap, get him locked in’. That shouldn’t happen.

“He has to be the best man to play in that position. No matter how much naturalised, or how quick they’re naturalised, that should be the same. I don’t know how they would legislate for that, but that shouldn’t be the case,” Byrne added.