The row over player eligibility has spread from Wales to Scotland with the SRU issuing a statement regarding the qualifications of two of their long established players.
Both Dave Hilton and peter Walton first played for Scotland before the game became professional in 1995 and questions had been raised about how stringent the checks on their qualifications had been. However the SRU statement claims that previously their was a "tried and tested" system of using the Scottish Exiles "which the SRU accepted on trust".
The statement continues "Peter Walton was a product of that Scottish Exiles system.
He became part of that system in season 1992-93 when the IRB regulations essentially allowed each country to determine its own eligibility rules. Peter Walton was educated (as a boarder) at Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh and played for the Scottish Schools. His subsequent selection for Scotland followed a well-established procedure at that time - i.e. he qualified through residence during his school days."
Hilton who has a Scottish born grandfather was however born in the West of England. In his case the SRU statement claims that he "emerged from the same Scottish Exiles' system. As the SRU's administrative secretary, Gregor Nicholson, has already stated, the union does not have any documentation regarding Hilton's eligibility for Scotland through an Edinburgh-born grandfather. Again, at the time Hilton became part of the set-up, such an assurance was taken on trust. In light of current speculation David Hilton has volunteered to provide the union with the appropriate birth certificate."