Rugby-Samoa expect answer to eligibility test case soon

By Greg Stutchbury WELLINGTON, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Samoa's test of an eligibility loophole that could boost their rugby World Cup and Olympic sevens teams with an influx of seasoned internationals should be known in a "couple of weeks", according to their side's assistant coach. Under International Rugby Board (IRB) eligibility rules, a player who has appeared for one country's senior team can not play for another. A loophole for the 2016 Olympics sevens competition, however, allows players who have not appeared for the first country for more than 18 months to play for a second, if they hold a passport of that country, in an IRB sevens tournament. That would then make them eligible for next year's World Cup and for the Rio Games the following year. "We are in the process of putting applications in to get certain players over the line," Samoa assistant coach Alama Ieremia told reporters on Tuesday. "We will probably know in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully if the test case comes through then we will take it from there." New Zealand media have speculated that internationals like former All Blacks Isaia Toeava, Joe Rokocoko and Sitiveni Sivivatu could line up for Samoa and Fiji from next year if the IRB approves the application. None of the players have publicly said they were keen to test the rules. Ieremia said he could not name any players who had expressed an interest in applying for the switch. He said the application was not solely about boosting their 15-man side for next year. "We have to make sure they can play sevens," he added. "But it's a new process and things could change over the next couple of weeks. "We have to get the balance right between these players and developing our own because the last thing we want is for people just to walk into the team." The IRB's Sevens World Series begins next month on the Gold Coast and Ieremia said the SRU were also contacting clubs to ensure players could be released to play at least one tournament on the circuit that runs until next May. Former All Blacks centre Ieremia was one of several players to have benefited from less strict eligibility rules before they were strengthened in the 1990s. Ieremia, who grew up in Samoa but moved to New Zealand to study, played five tests for the country of his birth in 1992 and 1993 before switching allegiance to the All Blacks in 1994. He played 30 tests for the All Blacks from 1994 to 2000. "I'm absolutely rapt about it," he said when asked about the loophole. "For me, it's about getting the best players playing at the highest level. "There are a lot of Samoans who have been capped by other countries but still have the potential to offer our country." (Editing by Ian Ransom)