It's been a week since Declan Rice announced that he was changing his international allegiance from the Republic of Ireland to England. While Rice had earned three caps at senior level for the Republic against Turkey, France and the USA, none of these were in a competitive international, leaving him open to declaring for another side.
The announcement itself has resulted in waves of comments from those within and without the football family, including thinkpieces on the state of underage football in Ireland, the over-reliance on players born, and developed, outside of the FAI's underage setup, and comparisons with similar defections in other sports.
Only one other senior international has changed his allegiance before this - defender Alex Bruce switched from the Republic, having earned two caps, the last of which came in 2008, to Northern Ireland in 2013, and has matched that total with Michael O'Neill's side.
Three other players have also switched from Ireland to England in recent years. In 2015, then U21 player of the year Jack Grealish notified the national side that he wanted to represent the Three Lions. Previous to this, in 2012 Michael Keane decided to play for England competitively at U19 level having represented Ireland at the same level, but only in friendlies. Of these two, only Keane has earned senior caps for his country, four in 2017 and one in 2018. Ironically enough, his twin brother, Will Keane, is currently in the process of changing his international allegiance from England to Ireland. Having only appeared in friendlies at U16 and U17 for Ireland, playmaker Daniel Crowley decided to play for England competitively at U17 and U19 level. However, in recent years Crowley has spoken of a desire to play for the Republic senior side.
In 2009. former Aston Villa, and Ireland U21, defender Shane Lowry decided to represet Australia (where he was born to Irish parents), although he has yet to make his international debut.
Having appeared for Ireland at U20 and U21 level, Dublin born Eamon Zayed opted to represent Libya at senior international level, qualifying through his Libyan grandparents. Of the players to change allegiance thus far, Zayed has had arguably the most successful international career - playing eight times and scoring once.
What does this mean for Rice? Historically, no player who switched from the FAI has reached double figures in terms of international caps, and Rice himself has said he does not believe the act of switching alone will guarantee him a place in the England squad. His current club mate Mark Noble, once touted as an Ireland callup, has not earned an England cap, and at 31 is unlikely to do so before he retires. Current England squad members Eric Dier(25) and Jordan Henderson(28) have 38 and 48 caps, respectively, as well as playing at higher profile clubs, and have Champions League experience. The process of switching allegiance itself is time consuming, so his is unlikely to be processed before the summer, meaning his second international debut will probably not be until September, at the earliest.
As noted by Daniel McDonnell of independent.ie, the real long term effects of Rice no longer playing for the Republic could be a suspicion of players either born outside Ireland, or who qualify for other countries through parentage.
What could have been.
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