Scotland coach Gregor Townsend says John Cooney reached out to him about switching allegiances from Eire and that he may add the Dublin-born scrum-half to his Six Nations squad.
New World Rugby guidelines imply Cooney, who gained the final of his 11 Eire caps in February 2020, can play for Scotland in the direction of the tip of subsequent month.
Cooney, 32, told the BBC in November he was contemplating switching international locations.
“I spoke to John when the rule change happened,” mentioned Townsend.
“He really reached out to me simply to let me know it will be one thing that he’d think about. A number of his household reside in Scotland.”
World Rugby’s new eligibility guidelines permit gamers to change allegiances after a three-year cooling off interval, so Ulster’s Cooney can change from 23 February – by which era Scotland can have performed two Six Nations video games.
“By way of timelines, he isn’t obtainable till afterward within the championship so clearly it wasn’t one thing we thought of for the start,” added Townsend.
“We’ll look when he is obtainable and whether or not we really feel it is proper to deliver him in when it comes to his performances in comparison with the nines we’ve right here and what it’ll require of him getting on top of things with how we play.
“It will likely be difficult for somebody coming right into a championship but it surely’s nice to know that he was eager to be concerned with us and provides to our depth at scrum-half.”
Scotland’s 40-man Six Nations squad additionally consists of London-born wing Ruaridh McConnochie, who performed for England on the 2019 World Cup, and former Australia again row Jack Dempsey, who switched to Scotland final yr after qualifying by means of his grandfather.
Scotland, who completed fourth within the 2022 event, open this yr’s Six Nations towards England at Twickenham on 4 February.
Eire journey to Murrayfield to face Townsend’s facet on 12 March, which may feasibly be Cooney’s residence debut for Scotland.
