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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Matthew Southcombe

'Rules are rules and everyone else is picking overseas players, so why shouldn't Wales do the same?'

New Wales boss Wayne Pivac today named the first squad of his tenure, to face the Barbarians on November 30.

There are five uncapped players in the side but two grabbed the headlines more than most.

Johnny McNicholl and Willis Halaholo, both born in New Zealand, have qualified for Wales on residency grounds and have been picked by Pivac.

The game against the Barbarians is uncapped but the residency rule continues to polarise opinion.

The topic was discussed on the Welsh Rugby Podcast today and here's what WalesOnline writer Andy Howell had to say.

"I would like to see a situation whereby if you're Welsh, you play for Wales and if you're Fijian, you play for Fiji, not for New Zealand, Australia or England," he said.

"That being said, the rules are the rules. The eligibility criteria has actually been changed by World Rugby going forward.

"But these boys have already qualified - why not pick them?

"Australia's team is full of overseas players, New Zealand still have some, England have got some. Why not?

"Hadleigh Parkes has been a roaring success for Wales.

"If everyone else is picking overseas players, why not pick them?"

Howell added: "I think McNicholl is a good player and it will be interesting to see if they pick him at full-back, where I think he plays his best rugby because he's a heads up player. He's got vision and skill.

"Halaholo has good footwork but he does need to work on his defence. Sometimes he can be caught a little short there but, from what I've seen, the bigger the game, the better he seems to defend.

"This is the perfect game to have a look at those guys because it's a non-capped international. They're both in the squad so I would expect both of them to play."

Elsewhere on the podcast, we discuss the rest of the squad, including an exciting crop of youngsters who have been named.

We also hear from the new Wales boss himself and his assistants Jonathan Humphries and Stephen Jones.

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