8 Rugby Players You Won't Believe Represented other countries
Rugby NewsThursday, 08 October 2020 at 14:39
The practice of professional rugby players changing their nationality (in most cases from their nation of birth) to play international football has been in action for many decades now.
This list includes eight interesting cases of players who have represented more than one country.
1. Martin Johnson - England/New Zealand
As a player, he famously led England to glory at the 2003 Rugby World Cup and also captained the British & Irish Lions in 1997 and 2001 - the only player to have ever led the elite tourists on two occasions.
However, what you might not know is that All Blacks legend Colin Meads invited the raw but promising teenager to New Zealand to play for the King Country province in 1989 and Johnson, who took up the offer, would go on to be capped by New Zealand U21s.
2. Pat Lam - Samoa/New Zealand
New Zealand's loss was Samoa's gain in the case of back-rower Pat Lam, as he traded All Black for the blue of the Islanders after failing to win a Test cap. He played only once for the All Blacks, in a 1991 tour game, but won 34 caps for Samoa and played at three World Cups.
He played only once for the All Blacks, in a 1991 tour game, but won 34 caps for Samoa and played at three World Cups.
3. Tom Richards - Australia/British & Irish Lions
Richards was the only player to ever play for both Australia and the British Lions, thus, the Tom Richards Trophy is named in his honour, which is the silverware that is played for between the British & Irish Lions and Australia.
In 2005 he was honoured as one of the inaugural five inductees into the Australian Rugby Union Hall of Fame. Upon his induction, Australian Rugby Union President Paul McLean commented: "late Tom Richards was an extraordinary character whom The Times described in 1908 as the first man to be picked for Earth if we were ever to play Mars!"
4. Va'aiga Tuigamala - New Zealand/Samoa
Widely known as 'Inga the Winger', Va'aiga Lealuga Tuigamala is also known as being one of the most powerful, hard-hitting and versatile backs ever to play the game.
As well as representing the All Blacks at international level, Inga also played for Samoa in both rugby union and rugby league both at centre and on the wing. As an All Black, he played in 19 tests (scoring 5 tries) and 20 non-international matches (scoring 9 tries).
5. Brad Barritt - South Africa/England
Despite playing for the emerging Springboks, South African-born Brad Barritt went onto represent England after moving to Saracens.
6. Luke McLean - Australia/Italy
McLean was eligible for both Australia, being his country of birth, and Italy, due to his Italian grandmother. He represented the Australia under-19 side, helping the side to win the World under-19 championships.
However, he made his international debut for Italy against 2007 Rugby World Cup winners South Africa on 21 June 2008 in Cape Town and has since won 89 caps for the Azzurri.
8. James Joseph - New Zealand/Japan
The now Japan head coach made his debut for the All Blacks in 1992 and won 20 caps up until 1995. The powerful flanker then moved to Japan, where after becoming a citizen, he was selected to represent them at the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
TRENDING
LATEST NEWS
LATEST COMMENTS
- Jordie Barrett over Damian de Allende is far from being correct. The hype around Dupont is also overreaching, he's probably 4th in the world and has been since the 2023 WC. He also avoids certain matchups which is strange. The rest of the list is pretty good apart from minor subjective biases.JasonMarlow16-09-2026
Loading