THERE ISN’T a fisherman at sea with a net as big as the one used by Scotland when trawling the world looking for players who qualify for the national team.
Every year seems to bring a new catch, the latest being a pair of props, the little-known Elliot Millar-Mills, who joined the squad in January by dint of his Scottish mum, and the more recognisable Alec Hepburn, who played six times for England and who is now back-up to Nelspruit’s Pierre Schoeman, because of his Scottish dad and World Rugby eligibility rules allowing the switch.
Every team is entitled to tap into the ancestry rule and every team, pretty much, does. Scotland does it a lot. Does it matter? Not if you think the son of a Scot is perfectly entitled to consider himself Scottish, which most people would, surely? That’s how Kyle Steyn qualifies to play for Gregor Townsend’s team. The same for Ewan Ashman, Sam Skinner, Cam Redpath and others. Sione Tuipulotu, Ben White and Andy
