Peter Jackson: Hanno Dirksen heads the new foreign invasion
Just as Kockott has no French ancestry, neither does Jared Payne have any Irish. Both qualify through the three-year residency rule, Kockott at Castres, Payne at Ulster.
Not to be outdone, Wales have a South African of their own waiting in the wings. Hanno Dirksen, born in the gold mining town of Krugersdorp, found his way to the Ospreys via Nashville and Truro. He, too, has served his time.
Provided he steers clear of any more serious injury, Dirksen will be following a well-trodden path of émigré Springboks who have surfaced in just about every other national team on the planet.
England have been happy to claim Brad Barritt, Mouritz Botha, Nick Abendanon, Matt Stevens and Hendre Fourie among others. Ireland put their shirt on Richardt Strauss, Wales capped Andries Pretorius on top of Hal Luscombe and Andy Marinos.
Italy have had no shortage of players like Quintin Geldenhuys who aspired to be Springboks before readjusting their sights. Australia welcomed Tiaan Strauss and Clyde Rathbone while France have dipped into their own South African pool in the Top 14 since the advent of Pieter de Villiers 15 years ago.
More recently they have had Bernard Le Roux from the Western Cape and Antoine Claassen from Durban, a city which used to pride itself in the boast of being the last outpost of the British Empire.
Kockott, formerly with the Sharks, is such a hot property in France that Castres are having to pay at least £250,000 to keep him. Toulon are demanding hefty compensation for Kockott staying at Castres after signing a pre-contract agreement with the European champions.
As for his readiness to switch allegiance, Kockott would probably jump into the France team as a goalkicking scrum-half accurate enough to have knocked Jonny Wilkinson into second place in last season’s Top 14 points chart. It would also save him having to take his chance with South Africa between two of the world’s best – Fourie du Preez and Ruan Pienaar.
Payne’s emergence as a serious contender to succeed O’Driscoll has not happened by accident. Ulster signed him with the blessing of the Irish Rugby Union, each party investing in a player knowing he would be free to pursue an alternative international career after failing to push on from the Junior All Blacks.
Significantly Ulster shifted him from full-back to his preferred position, outside centre, last October at the expense of another Ireland candidate, Darren Cave, a sure sign of Joe Schmidt‘s forward-planning. Ireland’s title-winning coach cannot pick Payne for the end-of-season trip to Argentina because he does not qualify until November.
Increasing exploitation of the residential rule has prompted calls for the qualification period to be increased from three years to five. The IRB, hardly the most pro-active of organisations, say they have no plans to review the residency criteria.
The message to those recruiting south of the equator would appear to be clear – carry on recruiting.
