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.
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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
It couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
25 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
25 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
82 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
44 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to comments