Bring back Folau? RWC winning Wallaby coach's radical, wrecking ball suggestions for saving rugby in Australia
Bob Dwyer, the World Cup-winning coach who helped turn the Wallabies into a major rugby force, has launched a withering attack on Rugby Australia, insisting he “couldn’t care less” if the governing body declares bankruptcy. Dwyer is also calling for an end to players being exiled from Test selection when they take up lucrative contracts abroad.
Under what is known as Giteau’s Law, currently a player can only be considered for Test selection if they have played 60 times for the Wallabies. However, Dwyer sees no merit in this artificial rule and wants Australia to follow South Africa’s lead and pick the best players regardless of where they are based.
Dwyer, the man who led Australia to the 1991 Rugby World Cup, told RugbyPass: “You would have players at the top of the game being paid by someone else and you get them released at agreed times. I reckon that is the best deal you could have and all we need to do is what South Africa have done and consider anyone for selection, and that would be perfect. Would South Africa have won the World Cup without their offshore players? Not a hope in Hell.
“The Giteau Law is not a law and is just a decision that was made and it is changed all the time. There are heaps of guys who could then be considered.”
Rugby Australia are predicting massive losses of around £60m that could see them unable to survive and they are reportedly even struggling to pay the controversial award of millions of dollars to former Wallaby full-back Israel Folau, who was sacked for his views on homosexuality. “Israel Folau is playing league – and what a fiasco that was for RA. I would have a chat to Folau about coming back because we have players currently in the game who have committed various offences,” said Dwyer.
Against a backdrop of increasing demands for Raelene Castle, the RA CEO, to stand down, Dwyer believes the game has been “horribly badly run” and that it will take something as dramatic as the total financial collapse of the Union to force what he believes is a much needed reset for the sport in Australia. Castle has instigated cost-cutting at RA which has seen her own salary slashed by 50%, staff wages drop by 30% and 75% of staff stood down until July 1.
Dwyer has tried for years to make RA understand the damaging disconnect that has been created between the clubs and the Union. He wants the current board to be ejected and people with a true understanding of how rugby is run in the country given the task of reviving the ailing governing body.
The World Rugby Hall of Fame member, who also coached Leicester and Bristol before returning to Australia, recently stood down after eight years as President of the famous Randwick club where he helped guide the careers of Eddie Jones, Michael Cheika, David Campese and Simon Poidevin.
Dwyer’s passion for the game remains as strong as ever and he added “I thought some years ago that we would have to hit rock bottom before change was forced upon the Rugby Australia administration – I mean the board who supposedly run the show. In the last six or seven years they have really taken their eye off the ball and it has been horribly badly run and they have set about changing the make-up of the board from constituent bodies (the states) to a much smaller representation along with so called independent board members. Now that has become a farce.
Rugby Australia could lose more than just their chief executive should Raelene Castle be axed from her position.https://t.co/Dw27l6EgxO
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 6, 2020
“What I see happening is that RA will be bankrupt, the board will have to resign and we can go back to having a board with proper representation of the people who are the game. Before last week there were 150 employees at RA running the men’s and women’s national teams and the sevens. I haven’t got the foggiest idea what all those people do.
“What RA failed to understand is that they are Rugby Australia, not Rugby Wallabies, and if you don’t get that then what do you understand about the game? You are supposed to be running the game in the country and the Wallabies are a product of how well you run the game. The absolute stand point is that the Wallabies are not Australian rugby – they are the pinnacle of Australian rugby.”
Dave Rennie, who has been appointed to replace Cheika as Wallaby head coach, is reportedly ready to walk away if Castle is ousted from her role with former Test hooker Phil Kearns supposedly being lined-up as the new CEO. Dwyer dismisses the potential loss of Rennie, stating: “If Dave Rennie wants to go because Raelene is going then that’s OK. We will get someone else. He seems to be a very decent person but we don’t want someone to stay coaching the team because he likes the CEO. What has that got to do with anything?
“I have tried for years to explain to the senior members of RA that the Wallabies or Super Rugby are not the sport of rugby in this country – that is the outcome of the sport of rugby. Club rugby in the two strongholds of Brisbane and Sydney is currently going brilliantly. It’s phenomenal with record crowds at the end of season matches plus crowds getting bigger. One of the Brisbane clubs had an open day for the new season from Under 7 to seniors had 2,500 kids registered.
“No matter what happens, rugby in Australia will never cease to exist.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Will rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
2 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
2 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to comments