Benhard Janse van Rensburg will be available for England selection next season after the RFU successfully appealed against his “capturing” by South Africa Under-20.
It was reported in February that England had to scrap plans to select Janse van Rensburg because his cameo at the 2016 Under-20 World Championship meant that he had been “captured” by South Africa and could not qualify for another country on residency grounds.
However, the World Rugby regulations committee has ruled under exceptional circumstances that the 28-year-old’s appearance was too insignificant for it to bind him to South Africa for ever. Janse van Rensburg, a consistent performer for Bristol Bears in either centre role, was not in the original squad for the 2016 tournament and flew to Manchester for two days to come off the bench against Argentina.
The centre has recently signed a new contract at Ashton Gate
GARETH IWAN JONES FOR THE TIMES
Janse van Rensburg joined London Irish in 2021 and spent two years at the club before moving to Bristol. Under the five-year residency rule, he will now become available for England next season, having played his first Premiership match in September 2021. He will also acquire England Qualified Player (EQP) status — a boon for Bristol, for whom he signed a contract extension this week. He will add to England’s centre options alongside Joe Marchant, who is returning from France to Sale Sharks next season.
The regulations committee makes frequent rulings on eligibility criteria for players. As well as the residency rule, the “birthright” law allows players to requalify for another nation with which they have heritage — place of birth, parental or grandparental place of birth — after a three-year stand-down period from their last international appearance. Under that system, Manu Tuilagi is open to representing Samoa in 2027 and could be a team-mate of Jacob Umaga, who switched allegiance after one cap for England.
The residency law applies only to uncapped players. Jack Willis, for example, could never play for France no matter how many years he spends at Toulouse as he has already played for England.
Janse van Rensburg was initially blocked…
The rubric around “capturing players” changed three times between 2012 and 2018, leading to confusion. Steven Shingler was called up by Scotland, the land of his mother’s birth, in 2012 but the Welsh Rugby Union contested the selection and he was refused eligibility on the grounds that he had been captured by Wales Under-20.
Janse van Rensburg touches down for one of the nine tries he has scored in his Bristol career
BOB BRADFORD/GETTY IMAGES
Duhan van der Merwe and Pierre Schoeman played for South Africa Under-20 in 2014 but were not tied to the Springboks under the rules in place at the time, subsequently qualifying for Scotland on the old three-year residency rule. Players are no longer committed to the country they represent at under-20 level.
The punishment for errors can be grave, at least for emerging nations. Spain have been kicked out of the past two World Cups for using ineligible players, and Paraguay withdrew from this year’s Final Qualification Tournament because of their own infraction.
Neither World Rugby nor the RFU has commented on the Janse van Rensburg decision.