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The beleaguered Western Force officials have stated that they intend to replace their star five-eights Matt Giteau with a ‘marquee’ player from overseas. One of the players mentioned is the All Blacks veteran Aaron Mauger, now playing with lacklustre mediocrity in the United Kingdom.
This suggestion of Mauger would be risible if it were not for the fact that this season’s marquee signing by the Force is Ben Castle, a journeyman prop that even the Chiefs, with their pathetic props, were happy to let go of.
With Daniel Braid, another marquee signing, this time for the Queensland Reds, taking a place and money that should go to a rising young Australian flanker, it’s time for the ARU to step in and tell the Super 14 franchises that their marquee signings have to be approved by the ARU.
If this is done, Braid, Castle and someone like Mauger would be shown the door before any contract is signed.
We’ve recently had the news that Sam Norton-Knight is preparing to sign up with Japanese rugby at the end of this season.
Why? Because he wants to play five-eights and there is no chance of him doing that at the Waratahs.
Norton-Knight is 24 and has played for the Wallabies at five-eight. He is too good a player and too young to be lost to Australian rugby right now.
So why won’t the Force make him an offer he can’t refuse to play in Perth at five-eighths? The combination of Norton-Knight and James O’Connor could be a lethal pairing.
And if the Force is too stupid to do this, why shouldn’t David Nucifora, the ARU’s High Performance manager, step in and put pressure on the Force to do the right thing for their franchise and for Australian rugby?