England 'traitor' Declan Rice deserves hostile Dublin crowd reaction after Ireland defection

Rice isn't the only member of the England squad to have previously played for Ireland, of course. Jack Grealish also represented the Republic at under-age level and could be targeted by the crowd at the Aviva Stadium this weekend.

Indeed, Callum Robinson, who performed the opposite switch of allegiances to Grealish, admitted earlier this week that his close friend is probably "getting ready for a bit of abuse". However, as Robinson acknowledged, his former Aston Villa team-mate gets booed pretty much everywhere he goes; Dublin won't really be any different in that regard.

Like Rice, Grealish represented Ireland all the way up to the Under-21s but, unlike Rice, he was never capped at senior level. Even more significantly, the winger didn't keep Ireland waiting for months on end before declaring for England.

As Rice progressed through the youth-team ranks with Ireland, he repeatedly insisted he was fully committed to the cause, driven by the pride of representing the homeland of his paternal grandparents.

He even kissed the crest on the Irish shirt while celebrating a dramatic win for the U21s over Azerbaijan in March 2018 - a gesture that garnered great attention from a long-suffering set of supporters desperate for Rice to remain with the Republic simply because there were already serious doubts by that stage over where his allegiances really lay.

Former assistant coach Roy Keane was adamant that Rice had no intention of quitting Ireland. During just one of a number of press conferences dominated by questions over Rice's future, the former captain was asked if the youngster had "given every indication" of wanting to only represent Ireland.

"Yeah, because he is Irish," Keane replied in his typically matter-of-fact manner. "Where else would he want to go? If you had to choose Ireland or England, it is pretty straightforward, isn't it? Ireland."

Keane couldn’t have been more wrong, though.

In August 2018, Rice refused an Ireland call-up ahead of the Nations League clash with Wales. Then-manager Martin O’Neill revealed that the player had been approached by England and that Rice was “taking time to make his mind up”.

From that moment on, there was never any doubt which way the decision would go. From a sporting perspective, it was a no-brainer. England had just finished fourth at the World Cup; Ireland hadn’t even made the finals since 2002. Then, there were their financial considerations.

"I think Declan has a new agent and he’ll be in his ear,” former Ireland winger Damien Duff told RTE. "England international versus being an Ireland international - that’s the bit agents look at. He’ll be in his ear to play for England rather than little old Ireland.

"If [playing for Ireland] has meant as much to him as he said - he was kissing the badge after one game - if he hasn’t lied and that’s the truth, then it won’t be a difficult decision for him. But he may have been convincing himself he is Irish for the last few years and, at the end of the day, he’s English - he was born in England.”

The question of identity is not often so easily resolved but, in Rice’s case, it really was. After confirming his transfer, he stated that while he was “proud of his Irish heritage”, he was “a proud Englishman”. Presumably, he always had been too, which left many wondering why he’d agreed to represent Ireland in the first place. The answer was obvious of course: it was a chance to improve as a player and advance his career.

Nationality can be a complex and divisive issue. Choosing which country to represent is sometimes a tough choice for players from mixed-heritage backgrounds, and particularly for those not yet out of their teens.

It should also be noted that as long as football’s rules of eligibility remain so loose, both players (or, perhaps more accurately, those advising them) and national associations will look to exploit the legal loopholes.

The FAI has certainly made excellent use of ‘the granny rule’ over the past 40 years (and particularly during their hugely successful Jack Charlton era) and they continue to target promising players overlooked by England, such as Kasey McAteer, the Northampton-born Leicester City attacker who has been included in the latest Irish squad.

However, as the Rice case underlines, there is an inherent risk in adopting such an approach: English players that prove their world-class potential are likely to end up wanting to play for England. Remember, Rice was not a prodigious talent. He was not considered the next big thing when he was growing up. He was even famously released by Chelsea as a 14-year-old.

So, when was offered the chance to play international football at a time when the country of his birth didn’t want him, he unsurprisingly embraced that opportunity. He wasn’t the first to do so and he certainly won’t be the last. As they say, don’t hate the player, hate the game.

However, while FIFA clearly needs to redress the eligibility rules, that still doesn’t excuse Rice’s behaviour throughout a drawn-out farce that made a mockery not only of the international set-up, but also Ireland's recruitment policy.

The FAI would clearly be remiss not to sound out every potential star eligible for Ireland, but the focus really should be on those that were desperate to play senior competitive football for the country, such as Kevin Kilbane, Evan Ferguson, Chiedozie Ogbene and Adam Idah. If not, further embarrassment, heartbreak and recriminations are inevitable.

Much to his immense frustration, O’Neill has been repeatedly criticised for failing to effectively ‘country-tie’ Rice before England came calling but, as the former manager has been at pains to point out, that simply wasn’t possible. Rice had no intention of committing himself at that stage of his career and he knew full well that playing for Ireland in a competitive fixture would have killed his England hopes, which confirmed that he was thinking of The Three Lions all along.

He may have repeatedly talked up his ‘Irishness’, even going so far as to show some dreadfully ill-advised and offensive support for the IRA in his younger days, but he was never fully committed.

Amid constant speculation over this future, Rice ruled out ever turning his back on Ireland. "When your country comes calling and you get a chance to put on that green shirt, you're going to jump at it. My nan and granddad are from Cork. They sadly passed away, but they'll be looking down on me very proud. My family are very happy that I'm playing with Ireland. It's my dad's side and he's really, really proud. He wants me to play for Ireland and I'm really happy to play for Ireland...

"There was no decision to be made. I haven't had a call from anyone at the FA. Not at all. England have never wanted me at underage level; it's always been Ireland. I haven't had a call from anyone in the FA yet."

The use of 'yet' was hugely significant. Even after making his debut against Turkey, Rice would only admit to being fully focused on playing for Ireland “right now”. His pride in his Irish roots may well have been "100 percent genuine" but he was very clearly and very deliberately leaving the door open for England, meaning it was very much a case of ‘fake it til you make it’, with Kilbane pointing out that Rice was little more than a 'Plastic Paddy' using the access Ireland had granted him to the international arena to audition for a role with England.

Kilbane was among those most upset by Rice’s actions. He, too, had been born in England, but both of his parents were Irish and he’d only ever wanted to play for Ireland. He even turned down the chance to represent England at under-age level because his dream had always been to represent the Republic.

Consequently, he was incensed by Rice stringing Ireland along for a year before going public with the fact that he was a “proud Englishman”. For Kilbane and many others, it was incomprehensible that someone would view Ireland as nothing more than a stepping stone.

Addressing Rice’s statement on his international transfer on ‘Off the Ball’, the winger fumed: "You're making a statement like you're a proud Englishmen but you’ve been coming to play for Ireland and you're standing there singing the national anthem with pride. And you're kissing the shirt with pride - how can you do that?

"It can’t just be a case of, 'I kind of liked playing for Ireland because it suited my needs at that particular time but I’m an Englishman now.' Think of all the players who've come through the system and what it means to them!

“I understand that when I first came into the Under-21s squad that there would have been a lot of people in or around that set-up who would have been uneasy with me. 'Who's this guy coming to take my shirt?' But Rice has taken the shirt and then sh*t all over it further down the line.”

After making his move, Rice accepted that "some Irish supporters will be disappointed by my decision", but insisted that it was one made with "my heart and my head, based on what I believe is best for my future." And it's impossible to argue with his thinking.

As the last few years have proven, Rice did what was right for him, from every possible perspective. He was indeed English, at the end of the day, and committing to the country of his birth made both sporting and financial sense.

However, his dreadfully ill-advised use of words like “honesty” and “integrity” left him wide open to justified criticism and ridicule, given the cynical and duplicitous way in which he had maintained the whole charade for so long.

Rice even claimed to have displayed equal love and respect for England and Ireland - but won’t be afforded any of either when he shows up in Dublin again on Saturday.