Search through the annals of Welsh rugby history and you will find numerous examples of players who were born outside the country contributing heavily towards the success of the national side.
Cast your minds back to the halcyon days of the 1970's and one of Wales' most prominent players, John Taylor, was born in Watford but opted to play for the land of his parents with his exploits ensuring his name would forever be etched into Welsh rugby folklore.
The likes of Taylor, Peter Rogers, Colin Charvis, Jake Ball and Hadleigh Parks have all represented Wales having been born outside its borders whether it be through parentage or residency.
With a relatively small playing pool there are always going to be gaps which cannot be filled with home grown players, and the man currently in charge of solving this problem is Gareth Davies, the Welsh Rugby Union's National Exiles Officer.
Davies, who hails from St David's in Pembrokeshire, is one of the real unsung heroes of Welsh rugby, and when we chat he speaks with such passion and enthusiasm on the importance of the WRU's Exiles programme.
"The Exiles programme is vitally important in terms of the national squad's succession planning and also the national age grade programme, particularly the U20s," Davies tells Wales Online.
"You need total confidence that every player is going to be properly developed, properly educated, and their potential is going to be maximised.
"Once you notice you've exhausted the high performance players in the system in Wales it's only logical and sensible to look elsewhere to increase the depth and the quality.
"The programme is about high performance players. It is about players who are going to feature in the succession planning of the senior squad, and it is also about players that the regions can contract.
"There's loads of example of boys we've identified who have been brought into the system and gone on to play for Wales. Before taking your call I was on the phone with a young Welsh qualified lad from Adelaide in Australia.
"Our programme is worldwide and no stone is left untouched in identifying the best Welsh qualified players."
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Wales are not the only nation to maximise World Rugby's regulation 8 which allows every nation to potentially select players who may not have been born in that country but qualify through their parents, grandparents, or residency.
While in the past this may have been criticised, players have every right to commit themselves to the country they feel most attached to within World Rugby's regulations, be it for personal or professional reasons.
The WRU's exiles programme is very well-thought out and strategic, playing an active role in the long-term succession planning of the national coach.
For example, if Warren Gatland feels there aren't enough quality tighthead props coming through the system in Wales, this is where Davies and his team step in.
So, how does it work in practice?
"The programme has been running for 30 years in various guises but initially it was very much an ad hoc social set-up for Welsh boys who were based in England," he said.
"Seven or eight years ago, we as an organisation decided we needed to be a bit more strategic around it. We needed to be strategic with regards to engaging the sizeable number of Welsh qualified players playing outside of Wales.
"We monitor them, identify them, and then potentially recruit them into the system either at regional or national level.
"That more strategic approach was supported by the board and Warren Gatland at the time as well. It's been running with a bit more momentum since then in essence.
"With the new funding model it's also about working very closely with the regions in terms of their player recruitment and succession planning.
"Obviously there's a quota on the number of overseas players they can sign so Welsh qualified players plying their trades outside of Wales is very important for them.
"We look at the senior squad and succession planning which is really important for them. Every nation has a depth chart looking ahead to World Cup's etc. Where are there gaps in our succession planning?
"If players are coming through at the regions will they be selectable options for the next World Cup?"
Take a quick look at Wales' recent squads and you'll find several players which the Exiles programme have played a significant role identifying with Nick Tompkins, Bradley Roberts, and Will Rowlands falling into this category.
Davies' remit has become bigger of late with World Rugby's decision to allow players who have already been capped to change allegiances to other countries provided themselves, their parents, or their parents have been born there after a three-year stand-down period.
Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga have hugely benefited from this amendment with former All Blacks and Wallabies such as Charles Piutau, Malakai Fekitoa, and Israel Folau swapping allegiances.
So, are there any such players in Wales' sights?
"It has opened up possibilities for Wales put it that way," he said.
"That's a new area of work for the Exiles programme. In the past once a player got capped for another country that was it but now that's all changed, and it has opened up potential possibilities for us.
"There are a few players we have our eyes on who could come into the mix in the future."
Davies, who has been involved in the Exiles programme for the past 20 years, has helped contract 60 senior players and 50 age grade players in that time.
He regularly travels up and down the UK scouting players and feels it's vital the Exiles programme focuses heavily on age grade rugby.
"One thing we have done is focus on age grade rugby as well," he said. "It had to be a long-term strategic plan,
"We are now reaping the rewards of that. The age grade side is about engagement and creating pathways for Welsh qualified players.
"Between the ages of 14-20, and these are players of all standards, there are about 1,800 players in the system.
"One of the most significant entry points is from the university pathway. We work closely with institutions like Cardiff Met, and Swansea University where players can combine their academic progress and their rugby whilst being monitored by us and the union.
"Look at the Six Nations squad and the squad which toured South Africa in the summer, you have people like Harri O'Connor the young tight head.
"Harri and his brother Sam, who is also at the Scarlets, came to our camps when they were 14. It's a case of monitoring their progress, how do they compare to the best age grade players we have in Wales? What avenues can we create for them?
"Another example is Rhys Davies the Ospreys lock who is in the Wales squad. He attended Millfield as a 16-year-old so we monitored his progress really closely, looked at where we could slot him back into Wales.
"There's also the young Ospreys second-row Huw Sutton who is from Kent. He also attended our exiles programme at 14.
"We supported him when he went to New Zealand on his gap year to play, then he went to Swansea University, and now he plays senior rugby for the Ospreys.
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