Public sentiment no longer behind Giteau's Law?
There are changes afoot in Australian rugby with new coach Dave Rennie arriving in 2020.
With chairman of Rugby Australia Cameron Clyne also stepping down, there is a mass shake-up to the governing body, and with it some of their laws, namely the Giteau Law, which is under review.
This law says that an overseas player can be picked for Australia providing they have over 60 caps, meaning players have spent long enough and contributed enough to their Super Rugby franchises. It was introduced in 2015 in order to shoehorn Toulon-based Matt Giteau into the Wallabies team for the Rugby World Cup.
The issue reared its head before this RWC as players like Saracens’ Will Skelton and Leinster’s Scott Fardy were showing form in the northern hemisphere worthy of being selected for the RWC in Japan, but did not have the required caps.
Rugby Australia did not make any changes to the law, but an exodus of players this year, spearheaded by the 33-cap Samu Kerevi, may mean changes need to be made in order to make Rennie’s job easier.
This issue is not black and white, and while the majority of Australians seem to be in favour of scrapping the Giteau Law, this is a debate that has been going on for a while now and does have people on both sides of the fence.
The main reason why people are in favour of scrapping the law is that players should be allowed to maximise their earning potential by moving abroad. In short careers, some think that it is unfair to stay within Australia, where the wages do not compete with those in Japan or France.
https://twitter.com/DaddoLanglois/status/1185697140619673600?s=20
I'm glad to read that. I'm a believer that the Giteau Law should be scrapped and players shouldn't have to play Super Rugby to be eligible for the Wallabies. This artificial ceiling we've put on our national team has hurt us
— Tom Hartman (@tfhartman) October 24, 2019
Moreover, there is an argument that players improve by playing elsewhere and they would therefore be able to enrich the national team. That has undeniably been the case with Skelton.
https://twitter.com/luke_pies/status/1186485397112508421?s=20
Agree with this. A lot of players seem to develop their games playing overseas, particularly in Europe. Toomua, Beale, Skelton, Fardy all have rave reviews about them. Not enough depth in super ranks currently.
— Pete Lock (@Pete_locky) October 22, 2019
What seems to be clear to many Australians is that the law is no longer serving as a deterrent, as a number of players in their prime (and with under 60 caps) are willing to forgo representing their country.
South Africa faced this same problem, and decided to allow all foreign-based players to play, regardless of caps. In terms of their national performance, their results speak for themselves, but the standard and interest in their Super Rugby teams has certainly dropped.
This relates to the question being asked of Rugby Australia, which is whether they prioritise their Super Rugby franchises or the national team. If the focus is the growth of the national team, then allowing the likes of Kerevi and Skelton to play will be beneficial, but this could have catastrophic consequences to the Super Rugby teams, as players will seek more lucrative contracts abroad.
https://twitter.com/AndrewBrogan/status/1186451754772156416?s=20
Imagine how the Super rugby popularity would go with most of the best Australian talent playing for more money overseas. Quality of our teams would go down – results would be poor – people stop watching.
— Rod Walker (@RodWalker83) October 22, 2019
It is hard to determine whether weaker Super Rugby teams will stultify the development of younger players, or actually give them an opportunity to play, but domestic rugby in Australia would be put in an awkward position.
Some are suggesting that selection for Australia should be based on Super Rugby caps rather than national caps, which would help in alleviating a player drain. This would ensure players have contributed to Super Rugby for a while before they seek out new contracts.
https://twitter.com/Damonfg/status/1197036823463096321?s=20
Needs some flexibility if we aren’t to lose all our young talent from Wallabies success.
— Here’s Johnny! (@BrumbyinTahland) November 21, 2019
This is a tough decision for Rugby Australia, and one that they will not rush to. But after their showing at the RWC this year, crashing out to England in the quarter-final, many people in Australia feel that a change is necessary.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments