Hi Torbreck,
Craig Gower must have a dual Australian/Italian passport which makes him a member of the European Union and gives him the right to work anywhere in the UK thus bypassing the quota.
Antonio Kaufusi was born in Tonga and benefits from the Cototonou Agreement or whatever its called which gives people from 82 states including the Pacific Islands free passage to work where they want. But even if he had no eligibility I don't think someone was going to stop him crossing the border
The gist of all this complexity is that England has pretty much an open borders policy because the powers that be are daft enough to open the borders to anyone be they European, Commonwealth etc etc. Then the few that couldn't get in got the laws overturned also such as Europeans outside the European Union etc.
The RFL can't go against the law and precedents so it has tried to impose additional restrictions based around 'training' but of course you have everyone already here threatening to sue if it impacts them, foreigners living here and being classed as British, ancestry claims and anything else that gets them in. I suspect the RFL cannot afford a challenge to set a precedent which takes away the rules entirely so will open the door to any reasonable push.
Cheers
Rammo
PS In my opinion if the player does not declare himself eligible for England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland or France then he cannot be anything other than a Non-Federation player. It would be simpler to just have a single list of e.g. Eight Non-Fed players. But even if it was that simple why do I still think we'd try and sign 9?
