It's been a battle Pacific Nations have been up against for 20 years and finally it comes down to a World Rugby vote tonight. But will change be made?
International eligibility rules come under the spotlight tonight when World Rugby meets in Dublin.
Unions will vote on a proposal thatwould allow players to switch to their nation of birth after a three-year stand down period. Under World Rugby Regulation 9, players cannot represent another nation after they have been capped for another country.
Charles Piutau, the outstanding Bristol Bears fullback, last represented the All Blacks before the 2015 World Cup and has repeatedly expressed his desire to switch allegiances to Tonga.
That dream could now become a reality with World Rugby's council voting on the new proposal.
Isa Nacewa played two minutes for Fiji at the 2003 World Cup as a 20-year-old and tried numerous times unsuccessfully to have the rules changed to allow him to represent the All Blacks.
He says it's a pivotal moment for the Pacific nations and would make a "significant change".
"It's been talked about for so long. Dare I say it's been the elephant in the room for the last 20 years," Nacewa told NZME. "But it's groundbreaking. It would make a significant change to a lot of the smaller nations. That's just the plain fact behind it.
"Do I think it's going to change? Probably not. There's a lot of great talk around it. A lot of things are heading in the right direction. A lot more people are speaking up and voicing their opinions around helping the smaller nations but you've got to remember at the end of the day World Rugby is a business and a beast that tends to move quite slowly. Is there a level playing field in voting rights? There's a lot more powers that be at play than just making the right decision at the end of the day."
Charles Piutau and Malakai Fekitoa ahead of a test for the All Blacks in 2015. Photosport
The Pacific Island nations' plan to allow a fairer and simpler means for players to change their allegiances is understood to have support of senior World Rugby executives, the Telegraph reported earlier this month, but will need to be passed by a 75 per cent majority of unions.
The player or their parents would also need to have been born in their home nation so Billy and Mako Vunipola, whose father Feʻao is a former Tonga captain, could theoretically represent Tonga in 2024 should England head coach Eddie Jones continue to overlook the Saracens pair.
Nacewa remains sceptical change will be voted in Dublin.
"I'm interested in how the meetings will go this week but I'd be a bit sceptical if things were to change so quickly," he told NZME.
"The reality is there's so much politics in this. Whether it is the right decision and the timing is right – everything comes down to a vote. Is it an equal playing field for the vote? No. Do Tonga even have a vote? No. Italy have three times more power in voting than Fiji who are higher than them in the rankings. The pass rate has to be 75 percent. Things just aren't equal.
"The fact things get to the voting stage at council, that's pretty significant but these beasts tend to roll quite slowly because there's so many other factors at play. Things will move in the right direction, just slower than what the times are demanding [and] than what the people are expecting."
Nacewa says having former internationals playing for Pacific nations could only be a positive.
"If the likes of Charles Piutau and Malakai Fekitoa, some of the best players in the world, can give back to their home nation and then bring on youth within and people can learn from them, that just bolsters everything."
Under the current system there is a loophole for players to switch nations once rugby sevens was included in the Olympic Games. Lopeti Timani, the former Australia No 8, and Wasps and ex-All Blacks centre Malakai Fekitoa, have already qualified for Tonga by playing in Olympic sevens qualifying events.
However, the process is far from straightforward. One player could not qualify because his parents could not find their original marriage certificate. It also discriminates against tight-five forwards who are far less likely to be able to prosper on the sevens circuit.
