Why scrapping the Giteau Law would be 'horrendous' for Super Rugby
Former All Blacks star Sir John Kirwan has issued a warning that the removal of the Giteau Law could be detrimental to the future of Super Rugby.
Rugby Australia [RA] is considering an overhaul of the Giteau Law to allow Wallabies head coach Dave Rennie to select more overseas-based players in his squad.
Under the Giteau Law, which was introduced ahead of the 2015 World Cup, Rennie is only able to pick overseas-based players who have at least 60 test caps for the Wallabies and have played a minimum of seven seasons of professional rugby in Australia.
Further amendments to the rule have been added to enable Rennie to pick two extra players who don’t meet that criteria.
There are three overseas-based players in the current Wallabies squad, two of whom – Samu Kerevi of Tokyo Sungoliath and Duncan Paia’aua of Toulon – don’t meet the Giteau Law criteria.
The third foreign-based player, Quade Cooper of the Hanazono Kintetsu Liners, has 70 test caps and played professionally in Australia between 2006 and 2019.
Calls for a review of the Giteau Law came after the Wallabies failed to win the Bledisloe Cup for a 19th straight year earlier this month as they were defeated in back-to-back tests by the All Blacks at Eden Park.
Since RA chief executive Andy Marinos confirmed last week that the national union was contemplating a relaxation of its eligibility laws, numerous former Wallabies have been left divided over whether such a move would be beneficial for Australian rugby.
Ex-All Blacks midfielder Sonny Bill Williams has also chimed in on the matter as he called for RA to scrap the ruling and reinvest the money it spends on its top players into schoolboy rugby across Australia.
Now Kirwan, another former New Zealand international, has voiced his opinion on the debate, but his views are of stark contrast to those held by Williams.
Speaking on The Breakdown on Monday, the 56-year-old said scrapping the Giteau Law all together would negatively impact the future of Super Rugby.
The southern hemisphere’s premier club competition is undergoing a significant upheaval after the advent of Covid-19 forced the relocation of the South African franchises – the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers – to Europe.
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The pandemic also resulted in the axing of the Jaguares and Sunwolves, leaving Super Rugby to become a Pacific-focused competition rather than a hemisphere-wide tournament.
Many have viewed the revamp of the competition as a golden opportunity to revive the floundering league, which has suffered from various problems over the past decade.
Those included, but weren’t limited to, administrative mismanagement, lop-sided results, ongoing and complex format restructures, matches played across multiple different timezones, player welfare issues and a sharp decline in fan interest.
Therefore, the chance to hit the re-set button and welcome two Pacific Island teams – Moana Pasifika and the Fijian Drua – to join the 10 teams from New Zealand and Australia has been lauded as a positive step towards rejuvenating Super Rugby.
According to Kirwan, though, any optimism surrounding the future of the competition could be quickly swept away if the Giteau Law is revoked to allow Rennie to pick players from anywhere in the world.
The former 63-test wing questioned whether doing so would “weaken the Australian sides” while drawing comparisons between the Giteau Law and New Zealand Rugby’s [NZR’s] stance on player sabbaticals.
“I am really, really concerned about Super Rugby as a by-product of letting players play overseas,” Kirwan told The Breakdown.
“You need to understand what the Giteau Law is. For example, we’ve got players going overseas and I think we’re now breaking into what does that mean for us?
“I call them financial sabbaticals. [Sam] Whitelock, [Brodie] Retallick, [Beauden] Barrett went on one, and yet TJ Perenara was a little bit different because [he came back to play for the All Blacks despite initially being ineligible to do so].
“Patrick Tuipulotu is going on one. You sign with NZR and, because we’re trying to compete with European money, you go on a financial sabbatical, which gives New Zealand Rugby your services for a few more years.
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“I think this Giteau Law is a little bit different where you play, like the South Africans do, completely overseas, and I think that would be horrendous for us as a nation, but also horrible for Super Rugby.
“I’m really concerned that Super Rugby is going to end up like our [NPC] or our club rugby because people want to see the superstars. They want to see Beauden Barrett playing Patrick Tuipulotu, so that’s dangerous, I believe.”
Kirwan added he would like to see Super Rugby tap into lucrative markets such as Japan and the United States, as well as the Pacific, to help prevent New Zealand and Australia from competing with the riches on offer in Europe.
“I think our challenge is we’ve got to stop following the market and start leading it,” the 1987 World Cup winner said.
“I believe we need to bring the Japanese into Super Rugby, we need to bring in the [west coast] of the America into Super Rugby, we need to bring Pasifika into Super Rugby.
“The LA side [LA Giltinis] has just won their competition [Major League Rugby] over there. There will be money going in there. We know there’s a lot of money in Japan, so I believe if they can stay in our basin, you should be allowed to pick them.
“Then you don’t sacrifice Super Rugby for the sake of us losing everyone … Why are we following the market? We’ve go to lead the market and try and help these guys.
“I understand that they need to make as much money as they can, but let’s create an amazing Asian base. Let’s invest and put a franchise in Beijing or something.
“Be a bit proactive and players can go over there, make more money, but also we can pick New Zealanders from that competition.
“If you are playing for the Sunwolves and you come down to New Zealand and you’re competitive with Canterbury or the Blues or whatever, and you can show enough form to get picked, let’s do that.
Ian Foster has convinced the powers that be that he’s the man to put the All Blacks back on top of the world. #AllBlackshttps://t.co/eFz2rtosdQ
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“We’re continuing to follow where the game is taking us instead of trying to lead it.”
Kirwan’s comments come after the Australian Super Rugby teams endured a horror showing in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman earlier this year as they picked up just two wins from 25 matches against their New Zealand counterparts.
The makeshift campaign highlighted the gulf in class between the two nations, and ex-All Blacks utility back Mils Muliaina said further depletion of Australia’s Super Rugby sides would make it even more difficult for them to level the playing field.
“I think their situation now, in terms of getting to the top of world rugby and winning a Rugby World Cup, I think they’ve obviously had a really good think about it and these guys [foreign-based players] will make a significant difference,” the former 100-test international told The Breakdown.
“I think what JK’s talking about is they’re already struggling with some of the depth that’s there.
“If all that depth’s going overseas to Europe and chasing a lot bigger money, which understandably there is, then they’re going to lose their depth in their squads even more so.
“Depending on how that looks now, the New Zealand sides will be beating them 50-plus all the time if they’re going to lose all their players.”
However, Muliaina added that, while it could drastically impact Super Rugby, the relaxation of the Giteau Law would help improve the Wallabies at test level.
“Will they be competitive? I think they will,” the 2011 World Cup winner said.
“I honestly think the way club rugby is over there [in Europe], in terms of the Premiership, I think the guys that are coming back are in a lot better nick and they’re adjusting a lot faster than they used to back in my day.
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“Super Rugby will take a massive hit, but you’d have to say the Wallabies are doing it to make sure that it’s a roll on effect.
“They start performing, they start winning and bringing in more sponsorship, it grows their game, then they can put that money towards funding in terms of recruitment and keeping their players here.
“So, I totally understand where they’re going with there in Australia.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
3 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
2 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
3 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
3 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
3 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
2 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to comments