Ireland have had their fair share of players born in England that represented the boys in green under the granny rule in multiple sports, but here are six English internationals that could have played for Ireland.
What could have been for these six.
1. Kyran Bracken
The original Irish national that ended up playing for England. Born in Dublin, his family moved to Liverpool when Kyran was four. Bracken made his England debut in 1993, with his first Five Nations game against Ireland in that 1994 match. Bracken went on to earn 51 caps for England, captaining them three times. He was Matt Dawson's backup for the World Cup in 2003. Bracken retired in 2006 at the age of 31.
2. Lawrence Dallaglio
One of the English contingent that Irish fans love to hate, but Dallaglio has some Irish heritage. His mother was born in Mallow, Co. Cork meaning that the World Cup winner could have been winding up the English players against Ireland rather than the other way around.
3. . Shane Geraghty
Born to a Mayo born father and a mother with Irish ancestry going back generations; Geraghty was heavily courted by Ireland as a 20 year old to represent the country of his parents birth but ultimately chose to represent the red rose, being picked for the England squad at just 20 years old in 2007.
4. Alex Corbisiero
The American born loosehead prop is best known for his outstanding display in the Lions test that had a lot of people proclaiming him as the best loosehead in the world. Corbisiero was also eligible to represent Italy and America at international level, but chose England after moving there at 5 years of age.
5. Paul Doran Jones
Trinity College educated Doran-Jones actually represented Ireland at U-21 level before switching his allegiances to England in 2009. Doran Jones was born in England, but only took up rugby when in college and played for Lansdowne. He was on the books of Leinster for four years until 2007 when he joined London Welsh. He has six caps for England.
6. Kieran Brookes
Ireland's aren't exactly inundated with tighthead props, so the loss of Kieran Brookes could be something to rue in the future. Brookes is another prop that represented Ireland at underage levels - U18, U19 and U20 before switching to England U20 in 2010. He is currently third choice tighthead for England, but the 24 year old is highly rated.
