Three-year eligibility rule to be reviewed

By Mitch Phillips LONDON (Reuters) - When Nathan Hughes and Ben Te'o ran out to win their first England caps on Saturday they took the team's Pacific Island import count up to four, with Eddie Jones the latest coach to take full advantage of rugby's eligibility rules. Fijian Hughes qualified under the three-year residency rule having arrived in 2013 while Te'o, New Zealand-born and a former Samoa rugby league international, has an English mother. They joined brothers Billy and Mako Vunipola, who have Tongan parents, in the side, with Semesa Rokoduguni, another Fijian, set to feature against his home country next week. England are not alone is taking full advantage of the sport's eligibility rules, with New Zealand and others regularly bulking up their sides with converted South Sea islanders. Those rules could be tightened up, however, after a review by rugby's governing body. Earlier this year, newly-elected World Rugby vice-chairman and former Argentina scrumhalf Augustin Pichot spoke out against the three-year rule and chairman Bill Beaumont said on Monday the situation was being reviewed. "We are constantly reviewing all our laws and this is one we are looking at," Beaumont told reporters at the World Rugby Conference on Monday. "My colleague (Pichot) does have a passion about it. It's something we need to keep looking at as there are different eligibility rules for the Olympics and other sports. “We consult the unions, we make the recommendations but they decide. We’ll put a group together within World Rugby, elected members and external too as we don’t want to be too insular. It will be discussed during executive meeting on Wednesday and might go to Council after that discussion. "All 126 unions will be consulted but if there is going to be any change it would be in 12 months or so." World Rugby's CEO Brett Gosper said there had not been much appetite to change the residency rule to five years when the issue was raised 18 months ago. "This time the approach will be more holistic," he said. "We'll be looking at eligibility, residency, the grandparent rule, player movement, the Olympics etc. We might end up in the same place but we may not." Beaumont said the other key issue he is desperately trying to address, with limited success, is settling on a unified world calendar for the sport. With domestic leagues taking a conflicting approach to some unions, and something of a gulf between southern and northern hemispheres, finding common ground has proved difficult for years. "I came in thinking it was something I could sort our pretty quickly, but I found otherwise," said Beaumont, who took over as chairman in May. "It’s challenging. Emotions run high but everyone agrees we have to find a solution. "I’m hopeful that by early next year we’ll reach a solution but there is no easy answer. Number one of course is player welfare, we can’t play more than once a week, we have to have certain rest periods and it's essential that welfare is factored in first." (Editing by Ed Osmond)