The very point of the Lions is its international flavour. Not necessarily just within the confines of the four constituent countries.
For years, naturalised players born outside Britain and Ireland have pulled on the red jersey. The upcoming tour, though, provides the highest number in recent memory of southern hemisphere-born players lining out for the Lions.
Between Ireland’s Jamison Gibson-Park, James Lowe, Bundee Aki and Mack Hansen, alongside Scotland’s Pierre Schoeman, Duhan van der Merwe and Sione Tuipulotu, seven players who grew up playing rugby outside of Lions nations have been named in this squad. In the case of Tuipulotu and Hansen, grandparents helped their eligibility. Others availed of World Rugby’s controversial three-year residency period, a qualification period which has since been extended to five.
Everyone has their opinion on these so-called project players. For the most part, the debate has quietened down as players won fans over with the calibre of international displays which made them Lions. Now they’ve moved up a level, though, chatter may well resurface in some quarters.
“It’s not something I give a whole load of thought to be honest,” said Gibson-Park. “We don’t make the eligibility rules, we’re eligible to play. People have their opinions, that’s fine but that’s the way I see it.”
“Obviously when you don’t have the blood running through your veins, there’s a little bit of that,” acknowledged Lowe. “When I was first selected for Ireland, all the people come out of the woodwork saying, ‘How is this person representing Ireland?’
“The rules were there, we’ve all done our time. We’re fully embedded in the culture of Irish rugby.
“My old man walks around in an Irish jersey no matter what, a Leinster jumper as well. Thirty degrees, he’ll have a rain jacket with one of those crests on.
“The boys will slag me for my accent but we’re so well connected in so many different ways. Everyone’s got a different story and mine just didn’t start in Ireland. I can see it ending in Ireland.
“My two kids were born in Ireland, my wife and I are super happy with everything Ireland’s given us. We don’t see us moving. We’ve got our residency and I don’t think you’re going to get rid of us any time soon.”
Both Lowe and Gibson-Park were asked about the eligibility debate when a handful of Lions met the press on Sunday. Tuipulotu brought the issue up of his own accord, clearly keen to get out in front of the discussion.
“I put so much on myself that I really wanted to be a Lion,” said the Glasgow centre. “I know how much it means to people over here. I’d gone all in with Scotland, I felt like what better way to prove my allegiance to Scotland by going all in to make the Lions.”
Was he ever made to feel that he had to prove his allegiance?
“When I play rugby, I play better when there’s a chip on my shoulder,” he explained. “That just adds to that. I’ve been nothing but embraced by the Scottish public since I started playing. There’s always going to be a couple of people, like there are for some of the Irish boys. I take that in my stride.
“I don’t blame those people. I didn’t grow up dreaming of playing for Scotland or the Lions, that’s the truth. This is where my path has led me, I’m all in for this Lions team and for Scotland, for Glasgow. I feel like this is where I’m supposed to be.”
Tuipulotu’s grandmother is Scottish and emigrated to Melbourne. Her daughter married Tuipulotu’s Tongan father. Their son represented Australia at under-20 level but, after moving to Glasgow in 2021, Scotland capitalised on his eligibility and capped him within months. His debut came against Tonga.
Before tearing his pec just before this year’s Six Nations, Tuipulotu captained Scotland in the November internationals. His grandmother flew over to watch him take on his native country.
“Early days, to be completely transparent, you have that feeling of, am I part of this?” acknowledged Tuipulotu. “My gran came over before the Australia game, it allowed the public to put a face to the name, listen to my grandma and how much it meant to her. That gave eyes to the public that my story was authentic.
“Of course you get those feelings that you want to prove yourself, the best way to do that is how you play on the field, show your commitment that way.”
That this tour is to Australia, the country of Tuipulotu’s birth, only adds to the storylines of a Lions group which is uniquely international. Ireland wing Hansen, born in Canberra, falls into the same bracket.
“That’s why I speak about divine intervention,” says Tuipulotu. “I feel like it is for my journey, my career.
“For it to perfectly line up to an Australian tour, where I’m playing my best rugby, I get to captain Scotland in the year I go on this Lions tour, that’s not all me. That’s why I’m grateful. I’ll never get it again, to go back to Australia and play for the Lions. I’m so eager to contribute.”
In a way, this eligibility debate which these players are keen to influence is somewhat irrelevant. Now players have to wait five instead of three years to qualify for a different nation, we are unlikely to ever see this quantity of foreign-born talent in a Lions squad. For now, though, with questions answered, players and fans alike just want to get to the business of the tour itself.
