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Is the ARU sabbatical move strong enough?

29th August, 2014
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A fish rots from the head, so what does that say about Billy Boy? (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
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29th August, 2014
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Bill Pulver and the ARU are to be commended for taking a more flexible attitude to Wallabies playing overseas.

Currently, if any Wallabies representative plays overseas he gives up his right to play for the men in gold.

From 2016, a yet to be determined number of Wallabies will be allowed one-year sabbatical contracts overseas, but still be eligible to play for the national side.

The decision is too late for Ben Mowen, Kane Douglas and Sitaleki Timani, who were in Australia but weren’t allowed to play against France because they had signed contracts overseas.

The timing of the decision to kick off the new flexibility after 2016 is also significant. The Rugby World Cup is 2015, and the inaugural Olympic Sevens in Rio are in 2016.

And there lies a problem, for those competitions will always run every four years. That leaves only two years in every four when the ARU sabbatical can take effect.

Not every Wallaby will be selected for both the Rugby World Cup and Olympics every four years, but the likes of Israel Folau, Kurtley Beale, and even Michael Hooper, certainly fit the bill.

Whether Folau, Beale and Hooper will be around in 2019 and 2220 is too far away to contemplate, but there will be others like them that will.

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Maybe the ARU, in following the New Zealand Rugby Union sabbatical policy, may find it isn’t enough to stop rich clubs in France and England from ignoring the southern nations and do what they do best, and dictate policy by not giving a continental what opposition national bodies think.

That’s why the International Rugby Board, soon to be known as World Rugby, must step in and find some teeth. Throughout its existence since 1886 the world’s governing body has been toothless.

To stop French and English clubs from calling the tune on their overseas contingent, the IRB must make a ruling that any club not releasing overseas players to play for their country will be suspended from all competitions until they conform.

That will take the sails out of those clubs who reckon they own the game and can do what they damn well please. For once, the players must be looked after first and foremost.

If there are any doubts about the future success of the New Zealand Rugby Union and ARU in achieving just that with sabbaticals, the IRB should step in to make sure the players aren’t used as pawns.

Clubs that rock the boat, must sink until they behave.

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