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Another potential team has closed the door on Folau

Israel Folau (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

NZ Herald

Rugby Australia (RA) CEO Raelene Castle didn’t slam the door shut on Israel Folau, diplomatically responding “never say never” when asked if she could see a way back for him in rugby, but at least one potential lifeline for the 30-year-old has been cut off.

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CEO of South African Super Rugby franchise the Bulls, Alfonso Meyer, revealed he was contacted to gauge his interest in recruiting the former Wallaby but said Folau is simply too controversial a figure to take a risk on.

Folau and RA reached a confidential out-of-court settlement this week after he chased $14 million in compensation for what he claimed was wrongful termination when the governing body sacked him for saying on Instagram “hell awaits” gay people.

And while the fullback would still be a valuable asset to any team on the field, off it, he’s too much of a liability.

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Meyer said exactly that when discussing why the Bulls weren’t interested in pursuing Folau after being contacted by a lawyer. It’s unclear whether the lawyer was from the footy player’s camp or not, but regardless, Meyer’s view remained firm.

“I’m not sure if it is Folau’s lawyer, but a lawyer approached us to hear if we are interested in contracting him,” Meyer said in an interview with Netwerk24.

“Initially I was excited but if you look at this matter with a sober mind then it’s simply not worth the risk. He is controversial and you’ll expose yourself by contracting him.

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“It’s a pity because he is a very special player.

“He is probably amongst the top two or three players in the world. If it wasn’t for his comments, we would have given our all to have him in the group.”

It’s impossible to imagine Folau ever playing rugby in Australia again and the NRL has said it won’t register a contract with him because of his stance on homosexuality, so if he wants to continue his career, then looking overseas is his best option.

Varying reports of how much RA paid Folau to end their legal standoff have emerged, but Castle said rumours of an $8 million settlement were “wildly inaccurate”. Suggestions of a pay-off between $2 million and $5 million have also been raised, but RA is determined to keep the final figure under wraps.

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While there was concern the money used to pay Folau would take cash away from grassroots rugby, RA chairman Cameron Clyne assured fans that isn’t the case.

“This (settlement) will not have one impact on community rugby — we’re emphatic about that,” Clyne said on Ben Fordham’s 2GB radio show on Friday.

“We did not want to have a situation where by prolonging this case and paying legal fees we were going to damage community rugby.

“We got to a number with Israel Folau’s side where it was cheaper for us to settle than to continue to run the case. It is not our job to take money away from community rugby to run the case.”

This article was first published in the New Zealand Herald and is republished here with permission.

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Flankly 2 hours ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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