- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
With the whitewash of the Wallabies and the Boks struggling at home against the Irish, there has been fresh talk about whether overseas players should be eligible to play for their country.
For what almost seems like an admin issue, it has stirred up a great deal of passion from both sides of the debate. With the Rugby Championship not too far away and both Australia and South Africa looking for improvement, it is likely this debate will get louder.
Personally I’ve always been on the side that says “let them play”. I want my national side to have the very best players and if they are playing for a club side overseas then that’s fine by me.
The coach and selectors need to make that final decision about who are the best players for the squad but they shouldn’t have one hand tied behind their back when trying to answer that very hard question.
Playing for your country should be the highest honour – but as well as sacrificing all those things that players have to in order to reach that level, should players also be forced to miss out on playing overseas and the benefits it brings?
Preferring to play for Saracens or Toulon rather than the Western Force or the Reds is not a middle finger up at Australian Rugby. But it’s not just the Aussies who are debating this issue.
Take England as an example. In June 2015 two of the very best players in Europe were Englishmen playing in France – Stefan Armitage (back row for Toulon) and Nick Abendanon (full back for Clermont).
They were in the form of their lives, playing in strong sides against other strong sides in both the Top 14 league and Heineken Cup. Armitage won ERC Player of the Year in 2014 and Abendanon took his crown in 2015.
But Stuart Lancaster was not able to pick them for the England squad that went into the Rugby World Cup. Both of these players stood a very, very good chance of earning a squad place and arguably would have been in the starting 15 come game day.
We all know how England’s World Cup went for them and while the presence of Armitage and Abendanon would not have guaranteed England any success, it would have certainly made their team better overall.
Today of course the English back row is beginning to strike fear into opponents but in October 2015 messers Robshaw and Haskell were not scaring anyone. Armitage would have brought pace, size and scrappiness at the break down that would have truly helped.
Australia found the benefits of having their overseas players available for selection in England 2015.
Giteau, despite advancing years, played well and combined with Foley to give the Wallabies that second playmaker and experience that they seemed to have really missed in this recent series. Adam Ashely-Cooper too brought experience and played well throughout.
Some have argued that their contributions have been overplayed but it’s easy to imagine that their experience and leadership was of value to the squad throughout their campaign as well as on the actual field.
Looking at the commercials of the whole situation it also seems unfair to me that these players are punished.
We’ve all heard the argument that a professional rugby player’s playing career is relatively short term compared to other more common careers.
In this time they want to play at the highest standard, win as much as they can and make as much money as possible at the same time.
With the ARU and Super Rugby unable to offer them the same level of salary as places like the French Top 14 clubs, it’s easy to see why a growing number are being tempted to try something new.
And let’s be clear – it’s not like the standard of rugby drops significantly as the wages increase. We’re not talking about a football player who is going from the English Premiership to the American MLS or Aussie A League for a final season of good money and good weather.
Top level European rugby is good quality and getting better. So why are those people who are trying to enrich both their careers and their bank balance having something taken away from them?
Depending upon where those players are playing then it could arguably make them even better players and bring a benefit to the player’s national side too.
If one of the Wallabies has played a season inside French or English rugby surely that can only benefit them and their teammates.
That inside knowledge, that insight into how they do things differently and maybe better – surely that’s got to be a useful set of intel to bring back home.
So why are some people so against this idea? There are those who feel that it’s almost an ethical situation. Players who have left behind their own country’s club rugby should not then be allowed to achieve the great honour of pulling on their national jersey. It’s a desertion. A dismissal of the system that has brought them up and supported them. Almost as if it’s unfair for a player to want the best of both worlds.
It can also be seen that this type of behaviour – playing overseas and still being eligible for national selection – should not be allowed as it will just encourage more players to leave in the first place.
More than likely it’s going to be the better players who are tempted to leave as they will be the ones who are being approached by overseas teams and as the better players leave the domestic game, that game suffers.
There are some commentators who feel that if Australian players for example stay in Australia then they can be under closer inspection of the national coach and there can be more of a coordinated effort between NRC coaching, Super Rugby coaching and international coaching and performance.
This seems to work well in New Zealand but it does rely upon one huge factor – the Australian Super Rugby teams are their own commercial concerns and so while they may well want to integrate with the Wallabies as much as possible, their top objective is to win.
Sadly those two drivers are not always aligned and when they are not, is it really fair to expect the coach at the Rebels or the Tahs to put the Wallabies ahead of their Club?
In countries like England, it can be argued that there is a great depth in the rugby system to fill the gaps of any players who want to head off overseas and take themselves out of national selection. This is supported by the recent U20s World Championship win.
Other nations, however, dream of the depth that England have. Places like South Africa and Australia need to have the very best domestic rugby product to ensure that they are appealing to viewers, sponsors and players of all ages.
The ARU in particular face tough challenges at home in the battle for attention. The AFL and NRL compete toe to toe with Super Rugby, and having top talent play their weekly rugby overseas makes it harder to appeal to a larger audience.
With the Rugby Championships just about six weeks away and then the international tours a couple of months after that, there will be plenty of opportunity to debate this issue. For now, it seems like coaches such as Eddie Jones and Michael Cheika are going to have to restrict their selection to home-based players (although somehow I don’t think Jones is too bothered right now).
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.