Delve and the Quota

With Delve staying on this could take the international player quota into some uncharted territory (unless there is a pacific islander example I am unaware of)
If Delve, a capped international, appplied for and got Aussie residency, would the ARU take him off the marquee player list?
It would seem fair to me, given that he'd clearly be forfeiting any possibilty of playing for Wales again and had given several years of service to the Rebels.

In NZ, they would have plenty of Samoan/Tongan examples of this exact situation, but they are trying to attract young islanders to prance around as All Blacks. this would be the first Euro example.

Thoughts?

Not sure I understand, Delve is Welsh capped, he is tied to that forever.

I doubt it because he would still be classed a welsh international player under the IRB laws so he would never be eligible to play for aus therefor he would always be a marquee signing.

There have been players in the past who have played for two nations though. Off the top of my head, Tiaan Strauss is one example who played for both the Boks and the Wallabies.

Yes but not any more, it's one country for life.

Delve is a great bloke but he is pushing 30 now. It's not an option for him. Besides, he's a proud Welshman.

What's the story with the ARU approving a 3rd year for Delve?

It's a good thing for the game, but I thought their own rules limited it to two years.

So, I guess I need to clarify.

Given that:
i) His international career is done for, he's 30 and they won't be touring Aus for a long time.
ii) He will qualify to be an Aussie resident (and potentially in another 12months and Aussie citizen)

..at what point would we (the ARU) be prepared to call him "as good an an Aussie"

My thoughts are: after 3-4 years of S15 service and a commitment to call Australia home (citizenship) the ARU should be obligated to regard them as Australian too.. IRB guidelines for Wallaby honours aside.. purely because they've earned it and our national government recognizing him as Australian from that point anyway.

Even if it meant the Rebels only played him till he was 33 (well possible given his form) and for 2014 or 2015 they would get a new slot to fill a marquee player, it would be worth it.

If he's not eligible for the Wallabies then he's taking up a spot of a Wallaby eligible player, that's why there's restrictions on these types of players.

Because we clearly have the "depth" to worry about this sort of thing.
We could make the same argument for an aging Samo ?!..

Yep, that would have been before the IRB changed the qualification criteria.

Has Delve actually come out and said he wants to stay in AUS forever and ever amen? Or has this just been sucked out of thin air?

This is just a bit of devils advocate around the whole marquee player regulation.
I don't believe it is the IRB forcing us to do it, so that takes them out of it.

There'd be countless examples of Kiwi teams playing current or ex pacific islander reps.
and we're in a position where we are struggling to put together 5 competitive sides. (just look at the ladder)

I would think if we were to bend our own rules .. .or find some sort of exeption for them, then it might come up in a situation like this.

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Seems like you're all against it though.

I personally would love to see Delve stay with Rebels, not sure what restrictions ARU have for Rebels. NZ have never had these restrictions, as most of Samoan and Tongan team are born and raised in NZ, NZRU have idea that to say you can't play in S15 teams would mean a lot would not be available for their Island teams. NZ has similar or slightly stricter rules for rest of world.

All of this is relatively academic - we were lucky to get a third year approved for Gaz, and even luckier that he agreed to stay for a third year.

He has an extremely close-knit family who he misses a lot. He does love it in Melbourne, but 2013 will be his last year in Australia before heading home.

Has there ever been an Aussie who has retired from national duty, but continued to play Super Rugby? They would also be taking the spot of another player.
I guess he is only taking a spot if there is a viable replacement availiable

Parks, born in Oz but had a Scottish granny; Lipman, born in Outer Pomgolia, came to Oz as a little tacker, about 6. Lipman would've stayed here if Bob Dwyer had've given him a Tahs contract.

I can understand the ARU's reluctance to allow foreigners to take spots they'd like to see locals have in our Super sides, especially as we don't have a Currie Cup or NPC to bring promising young blokes through, but there's a case for blokes like Lipman and Delve to be awarded some sort of honorary Aussie status. If they're prepared to commit to Australia, shouldn't we acknowledge that commitment with some sort of exception; their presence here really does lift the standard of teams they're in.

The Force could do with a few more blokes like these two.

Delve is not only a great player but also an excellent ambassador for the Rebels and IMHO he should be allowed to play for the Rebels as long as he wants to. Yes he potentially might be taking a spot of an Aus qualified player but no one else has done more to enhance the reputation of the Rebels since their formation. He's very highly respected both in the NH & SH.

Also he's a great inspiration both on and off the field. There's no law against having a foreign role model and any Aus kid, with aspirations to play rugby, could do a lot worse than modeling himself on Delve.

Well said and couldn't agree more.