Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan has moved to cool the hype over a return to ‘open slater’ Wallabies selection and the abolition of the Giteau Law that prevents most overseas based players from playing Test match rugby.
The Roar columnist and 110-cap Wallaby Will Genia said this week that it was time to shed old school thinking and pick every available player for the team in a bid to become more competitive.
Genia said that South Africa’s decision to scrap a similar restrictive selection policy had helped them become World Cup winners and the top ranked Test nation.
Rugby Australia chief executive Andy Marinos told reporters on the weekend that the Giteau Law was being examined and was under discussion even before the Wallabies’ record breaking loss to New Zealand on Saturday.
Speaking on Stan Sport’s Rugby Heaven show on Tuesday, McLennan said: “We’re not heading to open slather.
“We’re just looking at how we can tweak and refine the current Giteau Law as it stands.
“Eligibility is really around are there one or two players out there that we can bring in and/or see how we can improve the player squad for a World Cup tournament.
Hamish McLennan. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
“So we’re not going to move to the South African model at all. But like all things it’s open to debate and we’re turning over every stone at Rugby Australia and have done for the past year. So the time is now for us look at it.”
In the wake of the weekend reports there has been some push back from the Super Rugby clubs, who believe allowing players to take up lucrative contracts in Europe or Japan yet still retain the right to wear the Wallaby jersey would undermine the domestic product.
The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Waratahs chief Paul Doorn as saying: “The Waratahs’ view is pretty clear. What we want to see is the Super Rugby competition being the best provincial rugby competition in the world.
“We want access to the best possible players to play in that space and we need to be able to afford to do that.
“But from time to time, one of the best aspects about playing rugby is you have the ability to play around the world. We have no problems with people being brought back from overseas.
“I guess it’s just about maintaining NSW being an attractive club to play for in an attractive competition to play in.”
McLennan told Rugby Heaven it was crucial that Australia could field five competitive Super Rugby teams.
“I’m a free marketeer by trade and if people do want to go overseas, whether it be to France or Japan or UK then so be it,” said McLennan.
“But I think for us and our model and what we’re trying to achieve, we want to keep as many of the good players here locally playing in Super Rugby.
“If you look at the local competition in South Africa it’s been decimated so we don’t want to move to that model whatsoever.”
McLennan was also quizzed on Super Rugby’s expansion plans, with Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika teams slated to join the competition.
“It would be an incredible statement to make to World Rugby, if we can get there,” he said.
“And I think long-term we’d like to see how we can bring a Japanese team or a US team into the fold.
“If we can do that then I think we’re going to have a good local competition, grooming our players right through the system, right through the high performance area, and it will be really strong to all our commercial partners.
“And I think that’s the most critical thing we’re looking at at the moment.”
Ex force fan
Guest
Maybe not wasn’t asked while NSW assumed that they represent everyone. I think the Force may welcome a relaxation of the Giteau law as they don’t get any Walllaby top-ups it would level the playing field between Australian SR teams.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Cheers Faith.
Faith
Roar Rookie
Yup, Ken - best case scenario.
KCR
Roar Rookie
It’s not a secret that NZ rugby fans want to see both the Wallabies and Aussie Super Rugby teams as strong as possible. A strong Australian rugby is good for NZ. A local only policy is what has worked in NZ and in the past for Australia. In the short term watering down the laws will not significantly strengthen the Wallabies, but it will harm the domestic scene. Perhaps long term there could be value as more young talent will have opportunities at higher level rugby but who knows, this could be brilliant long term planning.
JC
Roar Rookie
He’s not a top Test player yet, even for the Wallabies, but he’s certainly handy. Rennie picked him in 5 of 6 Tests last year — and he managed to knock out an All Black in the process of setting up a try; he gets points for that. :stoked:
bungeye
Roar Rookie
It's interesting to note that only kiwis and some "Aussies" are in favour of keeping the law....
Beefa
Guest
Hanigan is not a test player. He has 25 tests and failed everytime. We have better locks and backrowers than him.
Hugh_96
Roar Pro
Completely agree tsura, that was my point, we can open up to overseas players but it really won't make too much difference as there are not many quality experienced players overseas that I can think of in the positions we need 2, 10, 15. Very much agree we have some great youngsters coming through.
ME
Guest
Literally nothing you said about NZ is true in that entire post.
KCR
Roar Rookie
I am reminded of two sayings, quality is better than quantity and correlation is not causation. I have read that there are 80 players overseas but how many are significantly better than the Wallabies 23? Not many, if any (scribe). And yes the Springboks won the world cup with a bunch of overseas based players, but this is not the reason that they won nor does it ensure continued success. All previous winners had used entirely local players, the 2019 Springboks are the exception not the norm. The Springboks are always strong the Wallabies following suite will not necessarily yield the same results. However, as always, I will remain positive until given reason to be otherwise. While I don’t like the idea of all players around the world being eligible the reality of the situation is that Australia cannot afford to compete for every contract any more. And Getting in front of the situation and managing it may be the only option. I am interested in seeing what the tweaks are, my suggestion would be to limit the competitions that players can go to ideally Japanese Top League, their short season that breaks for international windows would be more practical for players wanting to actually play test match rugby.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
In this case one journalist lifted the quote from ANOTHER journalist to create this article.
JC
Roar Rookie
What does Ned offer? Lineout and work-rate for a start. He’s not really tall enough to be a starting Test lock but he can cover there in a pinch. He’s also a known quantity, whereas McMahon and Gill haven’t played Test rugby in years. As for Wright, there’s a lot to like there; I hope he gets a second chance with the Wallabies.
Bobby
Roar Rookie
Everybody has an opinion just like ar??. holes. Thankfully our governing body is not purely reacting to last week's flogging (as many on here are).
The Yabbie
Roar Rookie
The differences with SA rugby and Australian rugby is this 1; The rand is very weak and they can't compete with other markets, neither can we but it's not as bad. 2; South Africa has three times the players of australia. The game is doing fine there. We are under fire from league, football and ozzie rules. We are more fragile and can't afford to lose too many players. If super rugby isn't competitive in Australia it could fall further.
Kabous
Roar Rookie
Ok, I see, didn't know Aus had such low numbers. Not sure if even that would prevent a young Aussie who gets a better offer os not take it anyway except nationalism is a big thing. Didn't keep our best and most loyal in SA. The way I see to attract more and better talent is money. Need to win first to attract that and for that the best available players are needed, even if they are os. There might be an immediate fallout of local players but it should turn around quick enough if the best are playing. But it sure is a tough position to be in. No easy answers.
Guess
Roar Rookie
What’s the point in a line that’s constantly being blurred?.. On a side note people who want unlimited selection often mention McMahon Arnold and some other senior players as if they know their current form, especially McMahon seems to be the saviour of the Wallabies.
Mo
Guest
You get rid of law. But tell the players that you are only looking to select local so anyone overseas needs to be special and if they care they need a test match friendly clause in their club contract. Done. Big problem is the 80 guys who are super rugby quality but aren’t playing here. The elite 5 to 10 matter less to the super squads.
The Ferret
Roar Rookie
He can stay in Japan. He is a decent super rugby player and that is it. He offers less to the wallabies that Swinton as given and Swinton has offered very little so far. Tell me how he offers more than anyone in the current squad or others in SR like Liam Wright or others abroad Liam Gill or Sean McMohan amping others.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
You may be correct and accurate JN, but I am not yet convinced that we can know the outcome of a foreign selection policy. I don’t know, so I will respectfully agree to disagree. Thanks for your thoughts.
carnivean
Roar Rookie
So you think the best way to get reform is to continuously post non-sequitir attacks on the Roar? Your own comments weigh against you here. You're being openly hypocritical. Would you have posted the same if a Force CEO was quoted sayting the exact same thing?