When some of the names chosen belong to players who had owed allegiances to other countries – and this on the eve of a World Cup – then it can give rise to a debate that goes beyond the meritocracies of form and ability. Ellena Perry has played 11 games of Test rugby for her native England, the last of them in 2020. Though part of the Red Roses’ extended squad as recently as last year, she is now eligible to play for Ireland as three years have passed since her last Test involvement. The loosehead prop, who qualifies through a grandparent, will do just that this Saturday when she makes her inaugural appearance in green off the bench against Canada at Belfast’s Affidea Stadium in the last of the team’s warm-up fixtures. Nancy McGillivray, whose transition contract with the English union ended without an appearance in June, made her debut for Ireland last week in Cork. Brought up in Hong Kong, the Exeter Chiefs centre also qualifies through her family background. World Rugby’s rule whereby players can switch nationality after 36 months of inactivity on the Test stage has its critics, but it can work both ways. Witness Jean Kleyn playing for his native South Africa having already earned five caps for Ireland in 2019. Kleyn’s case is an apposite one here. The Munster forward became eligible for his adopted homeland in early August of that year. Less than a month had passed before he was chosen ahead of the hugely experienced Devin Toner in the men’s squad for the World Cup in Japan. Remember the furore that caused? Timing in these things can be everything. When the Republic of Ireland women’s team sealed their place at the 2023 World Cup in Australia, then coach Vera Pauw revealed how she had been inundated with correspondence from players eager to share their Irish lineage and availability. The Dutchwoman had already used the ‘granny rule’ to bring the likes of Kyra Carusa, Lily Agg and Lucy Quinn into the fold. Sinead Farrelly and Marissa Sheva, two US-born players, would ultimately follow and be key players Down Under. The use of the diaspora was hotly-debated at the time. Not so much the practice in itself, but for the fact that the late introduction of such players would inevitably shunt out others who had played a part in getting the squad to the finals. Scott Bemand was asked about this after naming his matchday squad to take on the Canadians. Was there a risk, basically, in undermining players already in the dressing-room, and maybe even in unsettling the squad itself? “If handled incorrectly,” he said. Perry, an experienced front row who started the recent PWR final for Gloucester-Hartpury, owes her chance to an ongoing injury for Christy Haney. And Bemand put it that a summer pre-season was actually the perfect time to be feeding new players in. “It gives people time to acclimatise,” he explained. “It gives people time to understand what the culture is of the group. It's not just an on-pitch piece. There's an off-piece culture where people like to be themselves, and add to our wave.” Bemand stressed that the squad needs “the finest talent available both on-pitch and off-pitch”. A former assistant with England, he worked with both Perry and McGillivray in his former role and this no doubt helped bring both into the fold. “As we grow our squad depth, as we grow our playing pathway, we also have to be cognisant of people that are Irish and identify as being Irish, that play over in the UK, for example.” Perry, he said, is absolutely a live contender for a place in the World Cup squad. Balance is important here. The FAI has been criticised in the past for leaning too far on the UK for international players, but Bemand is confident that the IRFU is putting together a domestic pathway that will improve its own existing conveyor belt going forward. Ireland’s depth now, he says, is “night and day” to how it looked when he started with the team two years ago. Debuts given to Ivana Kiripati of Creggs RFC and Ailish Quinn of Ballina RFC against Scotland last week were highlighted as evidence. “Ellena gets the opportunity on the weekend to stake her claim. To be honest, it all leads to a healthy level of competition, which lets your training identity become a higher level, which hopefully improves your performance within the Test match arena.” Bemand names his World Cup squad on Monday.