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.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
England show who's No.1
ENGLAND women’s head coach John Mitchell says his side will take valuable lessons from the 24-12 win over world champions New Zealand as they build towards their WXV1 title defence.
Skivington: We're going to roll dice and go for it
THE Cherry and Whites are the enigmas of the Premiership.
Looking to go one step beyond this time around
NE small step is what it will take for Bath to go one better than last season and secure the Premiership for the first time, but it would be one of the biggest taken by the club in the professional era.
Four-try England make it 17 wins on the spin
ENGLAND women opened the Allianz Stadium era at HQ with a victory over New Zealand to make it 17 wins on the bounce before their WXV title defence.
Time for Borthwick to prove his worth
HONEYMOON periods are not set in stone and in my estimation Steve Borthwick’s ends this summer. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still in good shape.
Barrington ready to power up the Mob
RICHARD Barrington has signed up to the Ampthill “Mob” reassured that he’ll still have a target on his back most weeks.
Skivington keen to build identity
GLOUCESTER won their first trophy for nine years last season and reached the Challenge Cup final, but when George Skivington went on holiday the day after the campaign ended the words in his head were never again.
Roebuck targets England success
WINNING a maiden England Test cap to top the best season of his career will not be enough for Sale winger Tom Roebuck.
Booth: Tough telling players I was leaving
TOBY Booth admits telling his Ospreys players that he would be leaving at the end of the season was one of the hardest things he has had to do in his career.
Stephens' debut try sees off old rivals
DORKING had to dig deep in another tight game between two old rivals, with the lead changing hands twice and result in doubt right up to the final whistle.
