In other places I've seen a lot of discussion about the eligibility criteria used at international level, which seems to involve only a short period of residency, rather than any meaningful connection with the country adopted (e.g. as might be the case if there was the requirement for at least a grandparent from that country).
The criteria seem too lax to my mind - I don't think transferring to a club side in Scotland or in Ireland and playing there for three years should be sufficient, as is the case for van der Merwe for Scotland and Lowe, Aki and Gibson-Park for Ireland. As far as I'm aware beyond living there for a while none have any family connection to their chosen country.
Now I believe the residency rules are now a little tighter (5 rather than 3 years) but it seems to me that you must have some family link (however tenuous) to a country to be eligible to play for them. Otherwise it becomes little more than an indication of where you play your club rugby.
Now in the case of Ireland Lowe, Aki and Gibson-Park are all New Zealanders - I wonder whether in some deep, deep part of their psychology this affect them just a little bit when they are playing ... err ... New Zealand, their actual nationality.
