Remember the brouhaha over Emmanuel Meafou and his long-delayed bid to play for France?
The good news for Les Bleus and, arguably, bad news for international rivals is that he has his French passport, has completed World Rugby's required five-year residency, and is available for Six Nations' selection.
Expect to see Meafou's name in Galthie's first post-World Cup squad selection on Wednesday, barring any injury concerns following Toulouse's Champions Cup trip to the Kingspan yesterday.
The frustrating news, perhaps, for him is that at least part of that process has become unnecessary.
What we could perhaps call the Tuilagi affair threatened to reach the same level of deal as the Meafou affair. For a while, it seemed the passport issue meant that the young Perpignan star would not be selectable for France's senior men's squad for this year's Six Nations.
Tuilagi has lived in the southwest of the country since he was three, when his father Henry signed for Perpignan. The family has settled there.
He's gone through the French education system and passed his baccalaureate last summer. To all intents and purposes, he is French. But the thing is: it's not official Tuilagi was born in Samoa in 2004, and has not yet gone to the trouble of taking the final administrative step.
At U20 level, this was never a problem. A French passport was only ever an issue for the senior men's side following a decision by former FFR president Bernard Laporte shortly after coming into office in 2016. Now, apparently, it's not a requirement anymore.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January 14, 2024-Ausgabe von The Rugby Paper.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January 14, 2024-Ausgabe von The Rugby Paper.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Brough is so Hungary to build on early adventure
BIRMINGHAM Moseley winger Daniel Brough says his love for rugby was solidified when he spent two years playing for Portuguese team Lousa alongside Chile international Pablo Casas in what he describes as a \"boy to a man experience\".
There's more to come from this England pack
ENGLAND'S win over France last weekend was a huge confidence booster ahead of Saturday's Calcutta Cup clash against Scotland because of the way the team gave themselves an opportunity to win - and the players seized the moment.
Ellis was a rock that we'll never forget, vows Old Reds' Dan
NATIONAL League rugby was rocked last week when Old Redcliffians prop Ellis Joseph passed away aged 27, and captain Dan Fry says the club's focus is to honour his legacy.
Coach hails his King for the day
REDRUTH had to dig deep to see off a physical Cinderford side who deservedly took a losing bonus point back home.
Flying Falcons hoping to make it six out of six
SON of a pig farmer, Freddie Lockwood has been a headline-hogging act for Newcastle this season.
England need to be more consistent
THOSE who believe England have turned a big corner following their last-minute fireworks against France are optimists, simply because their record so far under head coach Steve Borthwick suggests there will be more boom-and-bust.
Too tall to be a pilot, I found lift-off in rugby
Jon Newcombe talks to Josh McNally who says that, without the RAF, he would not have achieved anything in the game
Bears on top but Bath go through
BRISTOL looked the stronger side on paper and so it eventually the bonus-point win still wasn't enough for them to secure a place in the knockout stages proved but Bears were left to rue a 78-19 hammering at the Rec and a surprise defeat at Bedford which left them with too much to do on the final weekend of the competition.
Great that we found a way to win, says Sleightholme
OLLIE Sleightholme insists England have finally broken their glass ceiling but urged them to take a leaf out his club Northampton's book.
Diamond's war chest for relegation play-off
STEVE Diamond has built up a war chest as insurance should Newcastle find themselves in an end-ofseason relegation play-off with key players injured, but he does not anticipate dipping into it.
