England are set to repeat their trick with Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and snatch another talented rugby star right under Wales’ nose ahead of the Six Nations.
England, who have already rejected Wales coach Warren Gatland’s chance to bring Six Nations star Pay-Waboso to the team, are targeting hooker Kepu Tuipulotu, who is qualified to represent the Red Dragons.
The 19-year-old was born in Pontypool and has a sister, Cicilia, who currently plays for Wales. His cousin Carwyn has also previously featured as a back-rower for the Welsh Under-20 team.
But England appear to have the upper hand after the rising star, who currently plays for Bath Rugby, was invited to a training session with the England squad during the Autumn Nations Series.
Tuipurotu could also have played for Tonga due to his family roots, but chose to play for England after joining the London Ireland Academy.
He first came to prominence with the England Under-18s and is primed for a call-up to the U20s squad for the Six Nations version at the same age.
But coaches are already preparing for the possibility of a quick promotion to the first-team squad.
According to reports, there may be some questions about his eligibility to play for the 2003 World Cup winning team. This is because your time spent at school at Harrow does not count toward your residency.
In that case, Tuipulotu would have faced a long wait as Regulation 8.1(c) of the World Rugby Qualification Rules requires players to register exclusively with their country’s union or rugby body for the 80 months immediately preceding a match. .
However, the world governing body later relaxed the requirements, reducing the period to 60 months. This ultimately means there is no need to wait for Borthwick to be summoned.
This would mark another win for England as Tuipulotu has impressed since joining Bath in the summer.
He made his professional debut in November’s Premiership Rugby Cup win over Ampthill, scoring a first-half hat-trick.
This comes a year after Wales lost Faye-Waboso, 22, who attracted interest from England coach Steve Borthwick.
Feyi-Waboso was accepted by Cardiff Rugby, but after failing to get into Cardiff University, he was forced to leave for Wasps and begin studying medicine at Aston University.
Since then he hasn’t looked back, making his Test debut in the Six Nations opener against Italy in Rome and playing a key role in the Red Rose set-up.
He is one of the favorites to take part in the British and Irish Lions tour if he recovers in time from shoulder surgery, leaving Wales to regret not having him in their national team.
