Former Republic of Ireland boss Martin O’Neill insists he ‘couldn’t care less’ about Jack Grealish and Declan Rice’s decision to defect to England at international level.
Grealish played for Ireland’s under-17, under-18 and under-21 teams but turned down multiple call-ups from O’Neill for the senior squad as he pledged his future to England in 2015.
Like Grealish, Rice represented Ireland at various youth levels but also won three caps for the senior team under O’Neill, although all of those contests were friendlies.
Rice was subsequently able to represent another nation due to the FIFA rules at the time, which stipulated players could switch international allegiances if they played in three or fewer non-competitive games.
Despite O’Neill’s efforts, Rice elected to play for England in 2019.
Had O’Neill, who managed Ireland from 2013 to 2018, had his way with both players, they would have been backed by a vocal crowd in Dublin when Ireland face England on Saturday at the Aviva Stadium.
However, the duo and interim England boss Lee Carsley, who represented Ireland as a player on 40 occasions, could be in for a frosty reception.
Although O’Neill did his best to convince Rice and Grealish they had a big role to play for Ireland, he knew that the pair, who were both born and raised in England, had their heart set on representing the Three Lions.
Speaking on the controversy six years after he left his role as Ireland boss, O’Neill claimed Rice and Grealish’s decision had little impact on him but pointed out why the two were justified to make the decision.
“Personally speaking, I couldn’t care less,” O’Neill told Jim White and Simon Jordan on talkSPORT.
“Secondly, if I did care, then I would think to myself, that Rice has chosen to play for England, what a terrible decision that’s been! He’s been to a couple of Euro finals and the Republic of Ireland haven’t won a game.
“In fairness to Jack, Jack’s father is English. At least I picked Rice for three games, he played three international matches at senior level for us. He played very well in the games.
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“I would have loved for him to have made that decision. But the decision was always going to be playing for England. Also with Jack Grealish, he played at underage level for Ireland, but if it came to it, the big decision, he was always going to pick England.”
O’Neill’s comments come two years after he passionately explained why there was little hope of Grealish and Rice ever pledging their future to Ireland.
“First of all, you can’t coerce players into becoming international players, he played in three friendly games at senior level, he was terrific in the games, it’s as simple as this: Declan Rice wanted to play for England,” O’Neill told talkSPORT in 2022.
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“He’s born in England, it really is as simple as that, you cannot just bring them into an international game, a competitive game, where the minute they play a competitive match for the country that’s them announcing they’re going to be playing for them.
“That was never going to be the case, you can’t deceive people into playing these games, you cannot force them into that.
“Jack Grealish was exactly the same, he was in my early stages of international management, I went to see Jack Grealish, I went to see his dad, Jack Grealish was born in England, and Jack Grealish did play some underage football for the Republic of Ireland, which he loved doing.
“But then when you have to make a decision, that decision was made by Jack Grealish and his father, his father’s also English too, you might go back to heritage as well, but that’s what they wanted to do, and I’m not going to disavow them of that.”
O’Neill also pointed out that the players themselves were fully aware of the guidelines surrounding international eligibility, further highlighting why convincing Rice and Grealish to play for Ireland was going to be a tall task.
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“The players know the rules and the players’ dads know the rules, it couldn’t be more simple, so this idea of taking criticism for not coercing two players who are now playing for England,” O’Neill said.
“I wouldn’t possibly have done it, and Declan Rice would have been aware of it so he wouldn’t have done it.
“If Gareth Southgate had said, ‘Listen, son, you haven’t got a prayer of getting in this side over the next five years’, there might have been a conversation, but that wasn’t the case.”
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Since he pledged his future to England, Rice has gone on to make 58 appearances for the Three Lions and played a key role in helping the team reach the finals of Euro 2020 and Euro 2024.
Although Grealish declared his intention to represent England in 2015, it was not until 2020 when he made his international debut.
The Manchester City star has featured 36 times for England but was controversially omitted from ex-Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2024 squad.
Despite starting one game this season, Grealish earned a recall to the England squad under Carsley as he looks to return to form.