The case for relaxing Aussie Rugby's eligibility laws
Last week I wrote about short and tactical kicking and how the better international teams are using it in the wider channels to overcome rush defence.
After a couple of rounds of Super Rugby we’ve seen the South Africans use it to great effect, while the Aussies have been getting it a little twisted and aren’t identifying the right moments or are unable to execute properly. In particular, the Reds over the weekend spent far too much time putting average kicks down Ben Smith’s throat, which ultimately cost them the game.
This brings to mind the question of which Australian rugby players are more comfortable dropping it onto the toe and are ideally suited to the current international arena. Players like Quade Cooper, Kurtley Beale (when he plays fullback) and Christian Lealiifano all spring to mind, but if you’re like me there are three names that you associate with short/tactical kicking, particularly out wide, and those are Nic White, Luke Morahan, and James O’Connor.
There is just one slight problem. They are all ineligible for selection for the Wallabies under the current laws.
Now, Australian rugby has had nowhere near the same player exodus as the Kiwis or Saffas, but it is still one of the larger issues Rugby Australia is dealing with. What compounds the issue even more, is that our national team kinda sucks at the moment, which doesn’t help the chances of retaining talent. It’s easier for the All Blacks to take a hardline stance on this, as they’ve won the last two World Cups and are the most iconic brand in sport. I’m pretty sure they could get a bank loan using the Bledisloe as collateral with how long they’ve had it.
Yet despite everything in their favour, the All Blacks are losing increasingly more players to cashed-up overseas clubs. It does make you wonder, what chance do we really have? Richie McCaw had a crack recently when responding to a question on how to stop the player drain. His take was that you build a good culture that players don’t want to walk away from.
My interpretation: you can’t stop it.
I don’t blame players for doing the dash overseas. Professional athletes have a limited shelf-life, and while it might appear otherwise, not everyone can be a Fox Sports commentator after retiring.
The Saffas have adapted to reality better than anyone, and as of this week have opted against the continual ring-fencing of their overseas cattle by abolishing the 30 cap eligibility rule introduced at the start of the 2017 season. This is despite the rule leading to recent successes by facilitating the return of Faf de Klerk and Duane Vermeulen. The impact of Faf, in particular, was clear in the historic Boks victory over the AB’s in Wellington.
SA Rugby will now try to keep talent at home by offering salary top-ups to around 75 players of national interest. Will this stop the rot? Not likely, but what is of real interest is they have signaled that they will be strictly enforcing their rights in respect of player availability during applicable Test windows. One commentator made the salient point that this will make signing South African players less attractive if they are regularly unavailable for their clubs.
This and everything else you’ve read so far are strong enough reasons in my books for Australia to adopt the same philosophy. Early rounds of Super Rugby have shown a number of local players putting their best foot forward, and if you combine them with the best of our players abroad, you have a pretty mean squad. Imagine being able to bring on Michael Hooper and Will Skelton with 25 minutes to go in a World Cup semi? We could be the fast finishers for once.
But what about Super Rugby you cry! Won’t relaxing the laws mean that the player exodus will get worse, and the Australian teams will be rubbish? Well, you’ve probably noticed that Super Rugby hasn’t been all that great lately anyway. Crowd and television numbers are weak compared to other winter codes, which doesn’t really come as much of a surprise given how little promotion the competition receives. Rugby Australia have dumped all their eggs in the Wallaby basket in terms of exposure of the game, so why not do everything we can to make sure the Wallaby brand is a successful one?
Raelene Castle has said that the Giteau law is keeping our best players in Australia. I doubt that is the case, and I won’t be surprised if Adam Coleman is not the last overseas departure announced in the next six months.
This honestly doesn’t worry me, because from what I’m seeing, the players that go overseas are better for it. It isn’t just Will Skelton’s weight loss that has been impressive, he is fundamentally a better rugby player. Nic White has said he is in the best form of his career, and after watching a number of Exeter Chiefs games recently, I agree with him. Lachie McCaffrey and Scott Fardy are two great examples of players whose growth didn’t occur in Australia, but abroad. The list goes on.
Castle has stated that South Africa making the change will not prompt any reconsideration of the Wallaby eligibility laws. I understand why, and that it is partly fear of the unknown that drives this, but I see it differently. I see changing the eligibility laws as not just a way to make the Wallabies more successful, but an opportunity to grow the player pool. I see it as an opportunity to bring the intellectual property of successful international clubs into Australian Rugby. After the last three or so years of disappointment, I think we can all agree that it’s time for some fresh ideas.
Tom Banks Brumbies press conference:
Comments on RugbyPass
Anna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
8 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to comments