Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'It is making Wallabies think twice about going overseas' - Castle shares Giteau law stance

Matt Giteau playing for the Wallabies. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

Raelene Castle has confirmed Rugby Australia has no intention of changing the “Giteau Law” that requires overseas-based players to have appeared in at least 60 tests for the Wallabies to be eligible for national selection.

The RA chief executive made her comments in the wake of South Africa’s decision to scrap their rule which says non-Super Rugby players must have 30 caps to be eligible for the Springboks and it would strictly enforce the World Rugby policy of being able to call back players for tests during international windows.

The RA stance means Will Skelton, currently impressing for Saracens, would have to quit the Premiership club to have any chance of making the World Cup squad in Japan.

“These types of laws are things you review all the time. But we have no information to suggest the Giteau Law is not working for us or we need to revisit it. We’re very comfortable that it’s keeping the best talent here in Australia to play Super Rugby, which is an absolutely critical competition for us to be competitive in,” Castle told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“And it is making Wallabies think twice about going overseas because they know they can’t wear that gold jersey. It’s working really well for us.

“We think the number is right for us. It gives us those that have been great servants of Australian rugby after 60 tests and that comes with the high-performance experience they have… training loads and managing workloads, that’s what a 60-test player brings.

“Underneath that, you would question whether players have the maturity to come and go and fit into the Wallabies and their structures.”

Castle also revealed that RA would be examining the training methods used at the Wallabies pre-Super Rugby camp which left David Pocock, Adam Coleman, Dane Haylett-Petty and Nick Phipps with calf injuries.

“We are all concerned about the injuries. That’s certainly not the ideal place for anyone to start. Nobody was comfortable with the fact we had injuries and Rugby Australia is reviewing the reasons for those injuries;” she added.

Tensions rise between Cheika and Super Rugby clubs:

ADVERTISEMENT
Video Spacer
ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

F
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?

4 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit
Search