Highlanders halfback Folau Fakatava cleared to play for All Blacks as eligibility case is settled stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Folau Fakatava won’t be eligible to play for the All Blacks until 2023.
Highlanders halfback Folau Fakatava’s untimely knee injury has scuppered his chances of representing the All Blacks until 2023 “at this stage”, Stuff can confirm, potentially reducing his runway to the next Rugby World Cup. Tongan-born Fakatava, 21, was in excellent form for the Highlanders before his tore his ACL against the Crusaders in Christchurch, and the eligibility implications of that injury are now becoming clearer. World Rugby is in the process of changing its residency rules with regards to test eligibility, extending them from three years to five years, and Fakatava’s season-ending injury means he cannot be capped and ‘captured’ by the All Blacks by December 31, 2021, when World Rugby’s old three-year rule is replaced by the new five-year rule.