Six Nations squad: Scotland in tug of war with Wales for Steven Shingler

Twenty-year-old Steven Shingler was born in Swansea, but believes he qualifies for Scotland as his mother is from Dumfries. However, according to sources in Wales, the fact he played for the Welsh under-20 side in a match against their French counterparts means he can only play for Wales at senior international level.

The SRU said that it was liaising with the International Rugby Board, the world governing body, on the subject. At issue is the status of under-20 teams – and the awareness that their players have of what that status means.

The IRB ruled some years ago that, although someone can play for one country’s youth teams and then play for another country at full international level, that is not the case if he turns out for either of a country’s two senior teams in a fixture recognised as a second-string international. In the case of Scotland and some other nations, those two teams are the full international side and the A side.

But Wales, among other countries, scrapped their A side some time ago, and have named the under-20 team as their second string. France have done the same thing. The Welsh authorities believe that, because Shingler played for Wales Under-20s against France Under-20s, he can now only play for Wales at senior level.

The SRU argues that Shingler was selected in good faith after assuring Scottish selectors that he had deliberately not signed a statement committing himself to Wales.

“Scottish Rugby complies with International Rugby Board regulations and guidelines regarding the status of potentially Scotland qualified players,” the statement from Murrayfield read.

“Today we have named Steven Shingler in our squad for the opening two matches of the 2012 RBS Six Nations Championship. Steven’s mother was born in Dumfries and, although he played for Wales Under-20 against France Under-20 last season, Steven has confirmed to Scottish Rugby that he declined to sign a declaration from the WRU that he was committed solely to representing Wales at senior level.

“Steven has informed us that he made it clear that he wished to leave open his international eligibility as he was also eligible to represent Scotland and England as well as Wales. Scottish Rugby believes we have acted in good faith in this matter and have also taken cognisance of an IRB ruling last year concerning two players who played for Wales Under-20 against France Under-20 in 2010 who now play for Connacht and are eligible for Ireland.

“We are liaising with the IRB on this matter.”

The IRB will now have to decide whether a signed declaration is required to commit a player to a country, or whether the law stands regardless of anyone’s active acknowledgement of it. The two players mentioned in the SRU statement are Gareth Loxton and Matthew Jarvis, who played for Wales Under-20s then moved to Connacht with the aim of being selected for Ireland. They argued that they had not been told by the WRU that they would be tied to Wales if they turned out for the under-20s. In the Shingler case, the Welsh are expected to argue that, regardless of any refusal to sign a declaration, the would-be Scot was made aware by them that he would commit himself to Wales by playing in the match against France Under-20s.

A WRU statement read: “The WRU complies with IRB regulations and guidelines regarding the status of potentially Wales qualified players. The Wales U20 team is currently the WRU nominated side for qualification, which means that players who represent Wales at this level in certain games are then solely qualified for Welsh senior honours.

“All Welsh players who represent Wales at U20 level against nations which also designate their U20 teams as their qualification sides are informed that they will then be registered as liable for Wales selection only at senior level. All the U20 players who represented Wales against France at U20 level in 2011 were informed that they would then become Wales qualified players only at senior level.”

Last year Shingler, who plays club rugby for London Irish, appeared in an advert on Welsh television promoting Wales’ Six Nations game with England. A succession of some of the great names of Welsh rugby was shown, including Cliff Morgan, Barry John, Phil Bennett, Gareth Davies, Jonathan Davies, Neil Jenkins and Stephen Jones. Former Scarlets player Shingler then appeared above the caption “0 Caps. . . yet”.

That left viewers in no doubt that he was regarded within Wales as a future Welsh international. After being included in Robinson’s 36-strong squad yesterday, though, the player made it clear that he wanted to turn out for Scotland.

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“I would be massively proud to play for Scotland,” said Shingler. “My upbringing from my mother means I’ve always known about Scotland.”

He now faces an anxious wait before learning whether he is indeed eligible to play for the land of his mother’s birth or that of his own. He would also have been eligible to play for England, as his father was born there.

Speaking before the row broke, Robinson said he and his fellow coaches had been convinced that Shingler was desperate to play for Scotland – and that, if selected, he would offer something different at inside centre. “It came to our notice six months ago that he’s Scottish-qualified,” Robinson said. “He’s played in the centre, he’s played at fly-half, and he’s had some really consistent performances.

“We’ve been selecting Sean Lamont and Graeme Morrison in the centre. For us in future, we’ve got to look at different types of centre, and to have someone that has a kicking game and is able to distribute the ball at 12 means that we can play in a slightly different way.

“He’s fully committed to Scotland. I spoke to him at the beginning of December, [assistant coach] Gregor Townsend has met with him and spent time talking with him.

“We’ve given him time to think about wanting to play for Scotland and he’s put his hand up and said that he wants to do that. We’ve got to tap into Scottish talent around the world, and it’s great we have a player that is very keen to play for Scotland.

“I’m not prepared to motivate anybody to have to play for Scotland. They’ve got to have that desire and will and passion to want to do that.

“[That applies to] every single player. I can do the Churchillian speeches if needed, but I’ve selected the wrong players if I have to motivate them to play for Scotland.”

Shingler’s kicking ability is just one reason why his current club have selected him at stand-off as well as at centre but, for the time being, he is regarded by Scotland as a candidate for the No 12 jersey. “I see him more as a 12 currently,” Robinson said. “But he’s had a number of games at 10 for London Irish, and has a great tutor in [former England utility back] Mike Catt. In the next few years he could grow into a quality inside back.”

Shingler’s older brother, Aaron, is in the running for a place in the Wales squad for this year’s Six Nations. Aaron congratulated Steven on his selection on Twitter.

If the SRU is forced to climb down and deselect the player it would be an embarrassment on a par with the row in 2000 over David Hilton. The Scots had made Hilton a regular after being told by him that a grandfather had been born in Edinburgh. When it was learned that the man in question had actually been born in Bristol, Hilton had to pull out of the Scotland squad – though he later added to his cap total after qualifying on residence grounds.

The row over Shingler overshadowed an announcement which Robinson hoped would showcase some of the rising talent in Scottish rugby. The coach named 36 players in his squad for the first two matches of the Six Nations, and insisted yesterday that each one of them – including the six uncapped men – has a chance to be in the 22 to face England in the opening game.

In addition to Shingler, the five who have yet to be capped are full-back Stuart Hogg, stand-off Duncan Weir and flanker-cum-lock Rob Harley, all of Glasgow; Edinburgh wing Lee Jones; and Sale Sharks lock Fraser McKenzie.

All 28 available players from last year’s Rugby World Cup squad are also included – of the 30 who travelled to New Zealand, Chris Paterson and Nathan Hines have now retired from international rugby. Edinburgh players Greig Laidlaw and David Denton have also made the cut, and, although both have played in the Autumn Tests, neither has yet taken part in the Six Nations.

No matter their promise, it would be a tall order for Shingler or any of the other uncapped players to be thrown in to the starting line-up for the Calcutta Cup match on 4 February. Robinson tacitly acknowledged that, by saying that places in the squad of 22, rather than the starting 15, were there to be competed for over the coming weeks.

“I have an idea of what the starting 15 will be. But every player in this squad has an opportunity to be in the 22.

“The next couple of games [at club level], particularly the European games, are huge games. So someone like Simon Danielli, who has not played in this last month and a half, if he wants to be in the 22 he’s got to put in a couple of performances for Ulster, otherwise it’s very difficult to pick him in the team.

“I’m looking at the team to be selected for England – that’s the prime focus of this squad. We’ve got a lot of forwards that I could name – Chris Fusaro, Pat MacArthur, Grant Gilchrist, Roddy Grant, Tom Ryder, Ryan Grant, Jon Welsh – there’s a whole list of players that have been playing really well. But I don’t see them in consideration to be selected for this first game against England.

“In future in the tournament, depending on our performances and their consistent performances, they will come into recognition. But this was about selecting a squad with the focus on the first two games. We wanted to select 36 – that’s what I wanted here – and it’s all about players who I believe are in contention to be selected.”

The only other hint at selection for the 22 from Robinson came when he explained why Glasgow hooker Dougie Hall had been preferred to team-mate McArthur. “Dougie Hall’s set-piece work at scrum and lineout is going to be a key part of playing against England, and that’s why he’s been selected ahead of Pat,” the coach said.

The most significant – though not surprising – omissions from the squad are London Wasps back Hugo Southwell and Glasgow back-row forward Johnny Beattie. Robinson’s message for both of them, and for others who were disappointed yesterday, is that they must play consistently well over the next month or two to force their way into his plans for subsequent internationals.

The squad will meet in St Andrews on Monday, 23 January, and will then be cut closer to the date of the England game. That home fixture will be followed eight days later by the game against Wales in Cardiff.

SQUAD IN FULL

Backs:

J Ansbro (London Irish), M Blair (Edinburgh), C Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors), S Danielli (Ulster), N De Luca (Edinburgh), M Evans (Castres), S Hogg, R Jackson (both Glasgow Warriors), L Jones, G Laidlaw (both Edinburgh), R Lamont (Glasgow Warriors), S Lamont (Scarlets), R Lawson (Gloucester), G Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), D Parks (Cardiff Blues), S Shingler (London Irish) and D Weir (Glasgow Warriors)

Forwards:

J Barclay (Glasgow Warriors), K Brown (Saracens), G Cross, D Denton (both Edinburgh Rugby), A Dickinson (Sale Sharks), R Ford (Edinburgh Rugby), R Gray, D Hall (both Glasgow Warriors), J Hamilton (Gloucester), R Harley (Glasgow Warriors), A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), A Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), S Lawson (Gloucester), M Low (Glasgow Warriors), F McKenzie (Sale Sharks), E Murray (Newcastle Falcons), R Rennie (Edinburgh Rugby), A Strokosch (Gloucester) and R Vernon (Sale Sharks)