Switching up - Six who are swapping sides for the RWC

A handful of players are set to make some interesting history at this Rugby World Cup.

When World Rugby announced their groundbreaking change in eligibility rules back in late 2021, it opened the door for a raft of familiar faces to restart their international careers in new colours.

Tonga and Samoa have been the main beneficiaries as expected with multiple former All Blacks and Wallabies set to feature for the pacific island nations, but the eligibility rules have also come to the aid of bigger nations, with South Africa, Scotland and Wales picking up former internationals in the last 18 months.

Among the wider group of players there are six who are about to create a bit of interesting rugby trivia, as the first to play at two different World Cups with two different nations.

Jean Kleyn

The resurrection of Kleyn's international career has been one of the more interesting sub-plots of the rugby summer in Ireland.

The Munster lock played five times for Ireland before and during the 2019 Rugby World Cup, having qualified on residency grounds following his move to the province three years earlier. His inclusion in the World Cup squad was controversial at the time, coming at the expense of Devin Toner.

Having slipped out of contention with Ireland since Andy Farrell took over, it looked like Kleyn's international career was going to be confined to those five games in 2019, but there were renewed shouts for him to be recalled to the Irish squad this summer, after he produced the best form of his career in the 2022/23 season, and playing a major part in Munster breaking their 12-year trophy drought with the URC title.

The call-up never materialised, and in a neat twist it could come back to haunt Ireland. Just days after missing out