Whatever the rights and wrongs of it, Bundee Aki is going to be an Irish international. The New Zealand born centre will start for the national team against South Africa at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Aki follows in the footsteps of Jared Payne and CJ Stander in playing for his adopted country.
Keith Earls and Jack McGrath were not considered due to injury, so coach Joe Schmidt has picked Andrew Conway on the wing and gone for Cian Healy in the front row.
Ulster winger Jacob Stockdale will play the biggest match of his career against the Springboks, in a team which reads:
Rob Kearney, Andrew Conway, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale, Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray, Cian Healy, Rory Best, Tadhg Furlong, Iain Henderson, Devin Toner, Peter O'Mahony, Sean O'Brien and CJ Stander.
Kick off at the Aviva Stadium is at 5.30.
Should Aki be playing for Ireland? Stander, Payne, Rodney Ah You, Robbie Diack, Quinn Roux, Richardt Strauss and Nathan White are the others that have worn green under the three year residency rule.
It's certainly controversial that players that are not Irish are eligible to play and are picked for the team because they play here, while the approach from the IRFU for Irish players that earn a living overseas is that it can damage one's prospects of playing international rugby. See Zebo, Simon.
Maybe the residency rule needs to be binned. It's not Bundee Aki or CJ Stander's fault, but what does playing for your country mean anymore?
