SIX years ago Ireland caused a stink by rushing Michael Bent, a New Zealander, straight from the arrivals hall at Dublin airport into their squad against the Springboks.
Having wasted no time getting him there, the Irish didn’t waste any more giving him his cap as a 70th minute substitute for the Leinster tighthead Mike Ross. And so Bent became the first man to play for Ireland before he had time to play in Ireland.
Far from taking a moral stand, England are now in the throes of making Bent’s change of allegiance seem a painstaking process by comparison. Just as the IRFU took ad...