Aussies are hurt by own protectionism

By Nick Cain – Read his expert opinion every week

Whether the Wallabies emerge with a Grand Slam or a slump of almighty proportions – or somewhere inbetween – after their tussle with the four Home Unions in this autumn series, Australian rugby union has been its own worst enemy.

The exodus of players from Australian rugby to all points of the globe, accelerated by the decline of Super Rugby, has been a disaster which threatens to undermine the 2025 Lions tour.

This is not so much because Aussie players have voted with their feet, but because, rather than adopt the pragmatic South African approach of remaining as strong as possible by letting overseas players remain eligible, Rugby Australia has cast most of them adrift.

It has been a consequence of failing to realise that what suits New Zealand in terms of eligibility restrictions – where those overseas players not on NZ Rugby-approved sabbaticals are not available for All Black selection – does not necessarily work for Australia.

For starters, it does not have the depth of playing resources of its neighbours across the Tasman, so to cut adrift a large slice of its elite group simply for taking up attractive employment opportunities overseas is the definition of counter-productive.

Giteau Law

Furthermore Rugby Australia’s “Giteau Law”, which decreed in 2015 that players overseas had to have 60 caps to be eligible for Wallaby selection, before it was reduced to 30, has undergone so many alterations it no longer fits anything.

Instead, there is a limbo where only three overseas-based players can be selected for the Wallabies per tournament, but last month an attempted clarification by Rugby Australia chairman Daniel Herbert muddied the waters further.

While Herbert said that Wallaby head coach Joe Schmidt can pick almost who he wants to, he added that there was the proviso that Australia has “an overarching agreement” with New Zealand to protect Super Rugby by not opening the selection door completely to all overseas-based players.

The contradictory element in Herbert’s explanation is what is truly overarching, and it almost certainly explains why Schmidt, a kiwi, has opted for home-based players ahead of those Aussies playing in France, England, and Japan.

Overseas Crop

Consider this roll-call of the 16 forwards the Wallaby head coach is missing: props Scott Sio 33 (74 caps), Ollie Hoskins 31 (1 cap); hookers Jordan Uelese 27 (18 caps), Folau Fainga’a 29 (28 caps), and Tolu Latu 31 (21 caps); locks Izack Rodda 28 (25 caps), Matt Philip 30 (31 caps), Adam Coleman 33 (38 caps), Rory & Richie Arnold, both 34 (32/9 caps), and Kane Douglas 35 (31 caps); and backrowers Pete Samu 32 (32 caps), Liam Gill 32 (15 caps), Sean McMahon 30 (27 caps), Ned Hanigan 29 (34 caps), and Josh Kemeney 25 (2 caps).

In the backs the wastage goes on: at scrum-half the Melbourne-born La Rochelle star Tawera Kerr-Barlow, still sprightly at 34, has been consistently overlooked; at fly-half Reece Hodge 30 (63 caps) is at Bayonne, and although Bernard Foley 35 (76 caps) is past his prime, he is still playing in Japan, and two years younger than Johnny Sexton was at the last World Cup.

At centre Jordan Petaia 24 (31 caps) is looking at an NFL switch, Iziaia Perese 27 (3 caps) is at Leicester, while Curtis Rona 32 (3 caps) is in Japan.

At wing, Taqele Naiyaravoro 32 (2 caps) is in Japan, as is Joe Tomane 34 (17 caps), while Sefa Naivalu 32 (9 caps) is playing for Carcassonne in France.

Outsider: Iziaia Perese, who starred for Leicester against Saracens last weekend, is one of 25 Wallabies barred from Test selection

PICTURE: Getty Images

The list is extensive at 25 international players, but there are also young players picked by Australia U20s who have not gone on to pitch for full Test honours after leaving to play overseas, such as wing Semesi Tupou, 25, who has been in Japan since he was 21.

Deprived of experience

Add to that another cohort of Aussie players who might have pushed into international contention if they had stayed – such as Castres lock Tom Staniforth – and the effects of the migration is amplified.

At the other end of the scale, while La Rochelle’s Will Skelton 32 (30 caps) has been picked by Schmidt for this tour, the way the Wallabies have failed to maximise on his mighty physical attributes while he has been in his prime in Europe, has laid bare the failings of Rugby Australia.

The same is true of the recalled Japan-based centre Samu Kerevi 31 (49 caps) and dropped wing Marika Koroibete 32 (63 caps).

The way in which Australia has also missed out on the massive presence of lock Emmanuel Meafou, 26, raised in rugby union Down Under but recruited by France, via Toulouse, after being ignored by Australia’s Super Rugby franchises, is another administrative red card.

Imagine Steve Borthwick having to field an England side against Australia on Saturday deprived of 25 experienced, or promising, international players.

For a start, it would undermine Test rugby as the gold standard apex of the sport – and this is Australia’s reality going into this tour.

Depth Question

Does Schmidt, even with the back-up of a 30-man ‘A’ XV, which will play Bristol and England A, have the depth to be competitive?

It is a question which Borthwick, who is already missing six England internationals playing for French clubs thanks to the RFU/Premiership’s exclusion zone, would do well to examine closely.

This could be made even more pressing if England players not among the 17 awarded central contracts last week start looking across The Channel.

In the meantime, the England head coach has to take care of business by beating the depleted Wallabies on Saturday – before facing a double world champion South Africa side which is free to select its players from all across the globe.

The South African experience suggests that the current form of protectionism practised in rugby union by Australia, and being adopted by England, is not working.

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