Peter Walton (born 3 June 1969) is an English-born rugby union player who won 24 caps playing in the back-row for the Scottish rugby union side between 1994 and 1999, despite uncertainty as to whether he was eligible for Scotland, given a lack of Scottish ancestry. He was educated at Merchiston Castle School, and played club rugby for both Northampton Saints and Newcastle Falcons. At Newcastle he made 15 appearances as they won the 1997-98 Premiership. He was forced to retire due to injury in June 2000. He was assistant coach, Academy Coach and Head for Newcastle Falcons between 2000 and 2008. Since 2008 he has been Assistant Coach with England U18 during which they won three consecutive Grand Slams and had a sequence of 19 victories.
International selection
Under World Rugby rules, the clauses in Regulation 8, Guideline 17 can be taken to pertain to international eligibility in schooling cases.
Regulation 8 on international eligibility is clarified under Guideline 17. The specific 'schooling' clauses state:
For the avoidance of any doubt, seeking to rely on short
periods of Residence as a child in a particular country, combined with a
short period of Residence in that same country prior to playing for a
Union, is likely to create a link that would be too tenuous to satisfy the
underlying intentions of establishing a contemporary, permanent, national
link with a Union. However, each case will be assessed on its overall
merits to establish if a Player is able to demonstrate a genuine, close,