Roar Rookie
Opinion
Former Brumbies player Mack Hansen will make his debut for Ireland against Wales this weekend in the Six Nations opener.
The 2018 Junior Wallaby decided to take his rugby talents to the northern hemisphere and turn his back on a shot at a Wallabies jersey.
From a Wallabies perspective, he is definitely a case of one that got away, especially considering that the Wallabies’ fullback jersey is by no means a lock-in for any player at the moment.
Rugby Australia need to review how a player of his ability was able to be lost when there are Australian Super Rugby sides who could have used a talented fullback this season.
Mack Hansen has been lighting it up for @connachtrugby – now he's about to get his chance with Ireland. @treacyj reports #RTErugby #SixNations pic.twitter.com/X0v9WsXoUb
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) February 3, 2022
This should be a lesson moving forward and hopefully the much talked-about centralisation in Australian rugby will help solve this.
Hansen is not alone in deciding to take profitable contracts in the northern hemisphere, which become more lucrative when eligible to play for the national team.
Over at Murrayfield this weekend, Queenslander Sam Johnson is starting with another Junior Wallaby Sione Tuipulotu on the bench against an England team who boast Waratahs junior Nic Dolly in their Six Nations squad.
The Japanese national side is packed with Australian players predominantly eligible on residency grounds.
Time and money has been put into the development of these players by a governing body in Australia that has limited resources and not long ago was on its knees.
Had it been known that players such as Hansen would be going on to represent Ireland, then Rugby Australia could have put this resource into another player committed to the green and gold.
Should World Rugby therefore step in and introduce a model where a player has come through one country’s pathway and then decides to represent a different nation, then the union that put the time and resources into that player’s development is fairly compensated?
Surely it is not right that Scotland, England and Ireland reap the rewards of players that Australian rugby has invested in?
Similarly, for any Fijian rugby player that has come through the Fijian system and represented the Wallabies, the Fijian Rugby Union should be compensated.
Such an approach would affect the recruitment strategy of a number of the northern hemisphere countries, and much more so than Australia, South Africa and New Zealand would have a very lucrative additional revenue stream.
However, the difference for Australia is that the depth of players is not at the same level as South Africa and New Zealand and so the impact of players choosing to play for a different country is larger.
It would be interesting if such a radical approach by World Rugby would ever be considered.
From a Rugby Australia perspective, one thing needs to be for sure: players that have represented rival nations should not be brought back to any Australian Super Rugby team in the future.
There should be no further funding by a governing body to a player that has taken but not given back.