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
An 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!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 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.
24 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.
24 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 commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to comments