If the jersey fits, then wear it

Is it right for sports stars to switch countries just to further their careers? ANDREW LAXON reports on pride in the next available jersey.

There's a strange look about international sport involving New Zealand these days.

Otago utility back Brendan Laney, the former darling of Carisbrook, played against the All Blacks this weekend as the new Scottish fullback.

South African netball sharpshooter Irene van Dyk is now officially a proud New Zealander. And Henry Paul, who played for the Kiwi league team against Australia only four months ago, is on the verge of playing rugby union for England.

For some, this is the inevitable result of professionalism in sport as players make the most of their earning potential while they can.

Others believe it makes a mockery of international sport, especially one of its favourite cliches - "pride in the jersey".

While Laney's selection has divided Scottish rugby fans - who sounded off last week about the influx of "New Zealand rejects" in their national team - Radio Sport talkback host Brendan Telfer says local callers have been surprisingly relaxed about top sportsmen and women switching countries so easily.

But he worries that rugby is in danger of undermining the prestige of the international game.

"I don't think rugby union wants its code to finish up looking like the rugby league World Cup last year," he says.

"You had countries like Lebanon and Ireland and others there basically made up entirely of players from the Australian NRL - all of whom were able to invoke some sort of ancestral link to a country they'd never been to in their lives before."

So how can a New Zealander like Laney be selected to play for the Scottish rugby team?

His grandmother was born in Glasgow and he has never played for New Zealand at top level (defined under International Rugby Board regulations as the All Blacks, New Zealand A or New Zealand sevens team). He is therefore eligible for Scotland, even though he has played for New Zealand at under-21 level and is well established as one of Otago's top players.

Laney, an unpredictable player nicknamed "Chainsaw" for his ability to cut through opposition defences, can play at either fullback, wing or first five-eighths. He finished as the province's leading points scorer this season, with 135 points and 11 tries in 12 NPC matches.

The speed of his transformation to full-blown Scot has been remarkable. Just 11 days after arriving in the country and after a token appearance for Scotland A against the New Zealand midweek side, Laney was promoted to the full Scottish side to play the All Blacks at Murrayfield, and joked that his only concern was learning the national anthem.

While he was helped by injuries to other fullback contenders, both Laney and Scottish coach Ian McGeechan admitted that rapid selection was the whole point of his move to Scotland.

Laney knew he was not going to make the All Blacks and McGeechan was keen to use him, just as he has already used other "Kilted Kiwis" John and Martin Leslie, Gordon Simpson and Glenn Metcalfe.

How do Scots feel about Laney's promotion?

Initial reaction to Laney's selection for Scotland A was hostile.

"It's a disgrace that the first game Laney will play in Scotland is in a Scotland A jersey," one fan wrote on the Scottish Rugby Union's website.

"No matter his pedigree, reputation or whatever, he should have to prove himself in a few club or district games, as anyone else would. We will be the laughing stock of Southern Hemisphere rugby if this policy continues - this guy admits that he has only come here because he did not make the New Zealand squad."

When Laney made the full side, the criticism intensified. One fan, who signed himself "Haggis", complained that "the Scottish team has developed over the past few years into a team for New Zealand rejects looking to make some cash before ending their careers".

But several others disagreed. One asked Haggis to imagine for a moment that he was Scotland coach McGeechan.

"What are you going to do ... put a player into the team who is inexperienced or ... do everything you can to help the team win and bring on Brendan Laney?"

Legendary Scottish fullback Andy Irvine, now commentating for the BBC, observed that "it used to be the case that you'd sit in the dressing room and all your players came from the same country".

Telfer says Irvine and fellow ex-international turned TV presenter John Beattie believed there was some tension in the ranks before yesterday's game.

Why pick on Laney? What about other players who have switched countries after playing at full international level?

This practice was banned after blatant abuse of the old IRB rules in the 1999 World Cup, when ex-All Blacks Jamie Joseph and Graeme Bachop played for Japan and former Wallaby Ilie Tabua went back to his native Fiji.

Until then, players could switch to a new country after living there for three years.

It was an especially useful system for Pacific Island countries, who got a second crack at several former All Blacks and Wallabies, although sometimes the traffic flowed New Zealand's way.

All Black centre Frank Bunce was not originally wanted by the All Blacks, but after his performance for Manu Samoa in the 1991 World Cup he was reclaimed as a New Zealander. This kind of switching is no longer allowed.

Are the new rules tough enough?

Not if you compare rugby with soccer, which has a much longer history of professionalism and tighter rules over eligibility.

Soccer players cannot switch countries once they have played an international at any level.

As a result, New Zealand has already lost one of its most exciting prospects, Rory Fallon (son of ex-All Whites and now Kingz coach Kevin Fallon), who plays for first division club Barnsley but has appeared for the England under-18 team.

Laney, a former New Zealand Colt, would not have qualified for Scotland under these rules.

Australian netballers might suggest Netball New Zealand take a look at soccer's rules as well.

They were furious when New Zealand acquired top goal-shoot van Dyk, who moved to New Zealand with her family last year to play for the Wellington Shakers.

She was quickly selected for New Zealand - legal under netball's regulations, but bizarre to outside observers when van Dyk had already played 72 games for South Africa.

To add insult to injury, New Zealand also snapped up former Fijian defender Vilimaina Davu.

Why do players switch countries?

A combination of sporting opportunities, money and personal reasons, although the exact mix varies enormously. For instance, van Dyk is adamant that she moved to New Zealand for a better life for herself and her family, not to break into the New Zealand team.

One of the most controversial recent switches was Henry Paul's sudden conversion from Kiwi league player to English rugby player, only days after the British-based player was back in New Zealand for a league test against Australia.

At first, there were stories that Paul could play for Waikato and the All Blacks, or for the Bulldogs in Australian league.

But it soon became clear that this was part of a strategy by Paul - who employed agents in all three countries - to drive up his price. Part of the deal, which New Zealand rugby administrators would not accept, appears to have been a guaranteed place alongside fellow league convert Jason Robinson in the English rugby team.

Paul has been heavily criticised by league fans for selling out and by New Zealand rugby fans for his allegedly mercenary tactics, but Telfer feels this is unfair.

In many ways, he argues, Paul has a more genuine case for switching countries than Laney. Despite his Maori background, he has lived in England for eight years, has a son who was born there and intends to live in Britain for the rest of his life.

Who was the most blatant country-hopper?

Two examples stand out. The top prize for stretching rugby's eligibility rules probably goes to former Auckland fullback Shane Howarth, who claimed to have a Welsh grandfather so he could qualify for Wales.

Subsequent investigations in the "Grannygate" affair revealed Howarth's grandfather was born in New Zealand, not Cardiff.

Back in the 1980s, barefoot white South African runner Zola Budd took on British nationality so she could sidestep the sporting boycott against her country and compete internationally.

Britain's Daily Mail newspaper helped rush through her application for British citizenship in time for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Budd's dream ended in tears as she tangled with favourite Mary Decker in the 3000m and finished seventh.

Which sport has the most ruthlessly unsentimental approach to country-hopping?

It would be hard to go past yachting, especially the America's Cup, where many New Zealanders learned by painful experience that everything is for sale to the highest bidder.

The country felt the pain of betrayal last year when - after a huge national advertising drive urging the country to get behind Team New Zealand - many of the successful team members promptly defected.

Skipper Russell Coutts, tactician Brad Butterworth and three others joined billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli's Swiss-Italian challenge, while 13 former team New Zealand members jumped ship to Seattle's OneWorld syndicate.

Former Herald columnist Murray Deaker summed up the mood of many when he wrote the following Saturday: "Dear Russell, you conned me ... I don't have a problem with you taking the money, but don't ask me to believe any more bull****.

"No more talk ever about dynasties, loyalty, team or traitors. You see, the favour you've done is to show that it isn't about sport - it's just about money. I don't know why I ever changed my mind."