'Never say never': could Israel Folau make a shock return?

Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle would not categorically rule out the possibility of Israel Folau returning to the code but believes the sacked Wallabies superstar would refuse to sign under the current player contractual terms.

Folau’s multi-millon deal with RA was terminated after a high-level breach of the Professional Players’ Code of Conduct in April after his religiously-motivated, anti-gay social media posts.

A settlement between RA and Folau was reached on Wednesday and Castle fronted the media in Sydney on Thursday,

CEO Castle was asked a number of questions about whether the 73-times capped Folau would be allowed back into Australian rugby

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In her answers to the first couple of those questions she stressed RA and Folau had “parted ways”.

Castle was then asked if technically the door was still open for Folau to sign another contract despite being terminated.

“I think it’s clear to see that our values are not aligned and the expectat ions that Rugby Australia would have of Israel coming back into the sport would not be acceptable,” she said.

Almost certainly still getting paid a lot more than he deserves…https://t.co/y48HjW8Xtc

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 4, 2019

Asked if that constituted a clear no Castle said, “Never say never, right? It would be crazy for me to say that.

“What I’m saying is we’ve got a value disalignment.

“At the end of the day, I don’t believe that he would sign under the current player contract.”

– AAP

New Waratahs coach Rob Penney has spoken to the media ahead of the 2020 Super Rugby season: