Players from seven different countries represent Norway in one of the world’s most popular sports. There may be changes to the regulations in the near future.

Because when Norway meets Bislett on Saturday, to play a World Cup qualifier against Estonia, it will be a rugby national team unlike any other.

Seven countries are active in the 23-player squad, which is spread as follows: 13 from Norway, Great Britain (2), France (2), Spain (1), Germany (1), Australia (2), Sweden (2).

The majority live in Norway, but come from other countries. International regulations allow players from other countries, who have resided in the country for more than three years, to wear red, white and blue.

This is true with players from other countries across the rugby world, including countries at the top level.

– These rules are likely to be changed at the congress on May 10 in London. Then his stay could be extended by up to five years, but it would not be retroactive, said Per Thorkildsen, president of the Norwegian Rugby Union.

He said that the proportion of Norwegians versus foreigners was 60-40. The goal is higher Norwegian participation and 70 percent of Norwegians starting next year.

– At the same time, there is a balance between the experience that many people from other countries have, and the fact that it takes time to develop players at home, the president said.

He added that the players felt it was an honor to represent Norway.

– The commitment to training and fighting is phenomenal.

Not like other people

There are many things about rugby teams that are great:

The President himself lives in England, and has done so for 23 years, but he often travels to Norway.

Players pay 100 percent of the costs when attending meetings and matches in the country.

Three of the players live abroad, but have Norwegian passports.

The association is investing heavily in recruitment, and hopes to have a total of eight junior and senior national teams within a few years (compared to the current six national teams).

This investment project is called Rugby 2020.

Currently the women’s and men’s national teams in Rugby 7s, which is an Olympic sport, are Union style.

The teams that will play at Bislett consist of 23 people at home, 15 people on the field at any time.

– This is the last round of WC qualifying in Japan in 2019. For us, this match is mainly learning and development. “We have set a target to take third place in this group,” said the president, who added that the WC was light years away.

Youth is coming

Norway has a young and exciting team with a new national team coach. Three very promising 19 and 20 year olds have done well: Tobias Carcary Nygaard (20), who is studying in Trondheim at NTNU, Aleksander Næss Clarke (20), who has just finished university at Swansea and Lars Thorkildsen (19) , the president’s son, who is studying opera and trombone at a university near Southampton. He also received a rugby scholarship to play on the university team.

There will be more games in the fall, but the association wants to build from the ground up.

– We have taken the decision to change the focus area. We focus on the younger generation aged 13 to 18, strengthening the club and becoming a better specialized association. To achieve this, we have cut most of the financial subsidies for the senior national team, said Thorkildsen.

This means that the active party has to pay a very high deductible themselves.

– We have four international matches and the same number of meetings in a year. For away games we have support from Rugby Europe, but not for home games.

The association also chose to spend money on professional coaches, just to make the sport in the country more professional. Ben Scully and David Cook are the new national team coaches.

They have extensive experience from the UK. Scully has worked with the England national team, his assistant has been club coach Lars Thorkildsen for many years.

The Norwegian Rugby Union was on the offensive, and then the union was thought to have received major sponsorship from the private business world.

– We ourselves believe that we have a great sport that is very similar to handball. Handball is also a contact sport. The difference is, rugby players are allowed to complete tackles. Both are very physical sports.

Norway-Estonia Bislett at 15.00 Saturday.