In from the side: exile international rugby union players in Britain, blood ties and national identities

Abstract

This study analyses the experiences of exiles within international rugby union in Britain. The emphasis is on challenging existing sociological assumptions surrounding national identity and sports labour migration. Eight international rugby exiles were invited to take part in semi-structured interviews and several themes emerged. The major findings from the study demonstrate that exiles are subject to an array of cultural attachments and personal experiences which shape their national identities. As migrants, their repositioning in relation to the nation is increasingly deemed to be the norm in rugby union. However, additional influences were also shown to persist to varying degrees.

Citizenship without identity? Instrumentalism, nationalism and naturalization in Chinese men's football

“…Representing the nation in sports mega event has becoming a highly contested issue with the acceleration of the transnational movement of athletes (Carroll and Bairner, 2018; Oonk, 2020; Poli, 2007; Poulton and Maguire, 2012). Naturalizing foreign-born athletes in national teams has also been so popular that it constantly challenges traditional understanding of identity, belonging, citizenship and nationhood even though the main purpose of athlete naturalization is to achieve national success in international sport (Choi, 2018; Jansen and Skey, 2020; Storey, 2020).…”

“…Naturalizing foreign-born athletes in national teams has also been so popular that it constantly challenges traditional understanding of identity, belonging, citizenship and nationhood even though the main purpose of athlete naturalization is to achieve national success in international sport (Choi, 2018; Jansen and Skey, 2020; Storey, 2020). Importantly, this provides a useful lens to understand identity issues in the contemporary world (Carroll and Bairner, 2018).…”