Eddie Jones' shocking call-up: Player who wasn't even eligible for England!
Today at 12:05 PM
In an exclusive with Mail Online a few years back, front-row powerhouse Patrick Schickerling revealed that he believed he was eligible to play for England based on residency.
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Schickerling, who joined Glasgow Warriors last summer, had made waves with the Exeter Chiefs, catching the eye of Eddie Jones.
The England head coach called him up at the end of the 2022/23 season, and the prop even featured as a replacement in a match against the Barbarians—a game he left early due to a head injury.
Despite being included in the squad for the Australia tour, Schickerling never made his Test debut. Shortly after, a startling truth emerged: the player didn't meet the residency criteria as initially thought by both the RFU and Schickerling himself.
Rugby journalist Bryan Ray took to Twitter to unravel the mystery. Schickerling had shared in his interview: “When I arrived in England in 2018, the rule was that you are eligible to play after three years of residency. Two months later, the rule went up to five years. I was living in the UK for three years straight and couldn't go home because of Covid. That's why!”
However, Ray clarified in his thread: “November 2018 arrival would put him on track to qualify under the three-year residency rule in November of 2021. But the consecutive residency rule, under World Rugby's Regulation 8, was extended to five years effective January 1, 2022.”
Ray further explained: “Schickerling assumes that because he reached the three-year mark before the change, his eligibility carried over. It does not. To maintain England eligibility, he had to play for England or England 'A' between November 2021 and January 1, 2022. He didn't.”
This left Schickerling under the five-year rule, making him ineligible for England until November 2023 but still eligible to represent Namibia. Fortunately for the RFU, no action was taken by World Rugby since Schickerling remains uncapped. This follows the controversial expulsion of Spain from the Rugby World Cup for fielding an ineligible player during their qualifiers.
Read Ray’s entire Twitter thread by clicking here.
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