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Eddie Jones' Giteau law latest, and his warning for the Premiership
By Liam Heagney
New Wallabies boss Eddie Jones has shared the latest on the status of the Giteau law which could deny him the opportunity to field some of his best players at Rugby World Cup 2023. Introduced in 2015 by Rugby Australia, the regulation states that a maximum of three overseas-based players can be selected if they have accrued 30 Test caps for the Wallabies or have completed five Super Rugby seasons in Australia.
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Jones now wants this rule scrapped in time for the upcoming RWC in France where the Wallabies could face a potential quarter-final with England, a fixture that ex-England boss Jones said would “be a bit of fun” if it materialised.
Appointed as Wallabies boss last January at the expense of Dave Rennie, Jones named a 33-man squad in April for his first three-day camp in charge. He also included seven overseas-based players who dialled in to take part on online sessions in the in-camp players.
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Richard Arnold, Tom Banks, Quade Cooper, Bernard Foley, Marika Koroibete, Samu Kerevi and Will Skelton were those players based outside Australia invited to participate and Jones got to work in-person last week with two of them – Cooper and Kerevi – when he coached the Barbarians to their exciting win over Steve Hansen’s World XV.
Jones flew out of England on Monday to commence preparations ahead of the Wallabies’ July 9 encounter away to the Springboks in Pretoria but before he left, he gave an interview to the Evening Standard Rugby Podcast with Lawrence Dallaglio in which he addressed the Giteau law.
“We haven’t tabled that (a change) with the board yet,” explained Jones. “But I’m sure we are going to get a positive response about having more players because you know, we have got Will Skelton (Stade Rochelle)., who is probably the best right hand side lock in the world. Richie Arnold at Toulouse is a fantastic player in the Top 14. Quade Cooper, Marika Koroibete (both playing in Japan), you know, we can’t snub that sort of talent.”
Jones also suggested that those who run the Gallagher Premiership in England need to revise their format and re-introduce promotion and relegation to the tournament. “In reality I don’t think the competition ever recovered from Saracens being relegated.” he suggested.
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“The great thing about coming to England and Sunday was a great example with the (football) Premier League, it doesn’t matter what team you’re in, everyone’s following it, aren’t they? Because it’s drama, it’s fantastic sport and England’s sports are based on that.
“We don’t have that culture in Australia, and we don’t have it in New Zealand, but you have it here and I reckon that’s a big part of the sport here and taking that out of the Premiership has diminished the Premiership.
“We have lost two clubs [Wasps and Worcester] this year and with potentially a third going [London Irish], the whole thing needs to be restructured. They need to have a competitive structure where they have got promotion and relegation and there is a dream there – a dream from a little club.
“Some bloke’s got, you know, £10million that he has made and wants to throw it in the club and build a club out of nowhere. Rugby needs that, particularly in this sporting landscape.”
- Click here to hear the Lawerence Dallaglio interview with Eddie Jones
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