The Springboks and Wallabies will be playing Test matches outside of the official World Rugby international window this weekend, but Australia’s fixture has proven far more controversial in the public’s eye.
This is because Joe Schmidt has been unable to select his two PREM-based stars, who were central to the team’s successes this year, Exeter’s Tom Hooper and Len Ikitau.
In stark contrast, every single one of the men selected in Steve Borthwick’s matchday 23 is contracted to PREM Rugby outfits, with the RFU paying off the clubs to have access to the players at an earlier date, despite the league being paused for a month.
Adding to the Wallabies’ struggles, James O’Connor is also unavailable, along with powerhouse lock Will Skelton, with all the players mentioned omitted from Australia’s touring squad.
For the Springboks, Rassie Erasmus is unable to select tighthead Thomas du Toit, who is contracted to the PREM Rugby club Bath, which has resulted in a Test debut for rookie prop Zachery Porthern against Japan.
Rassie ‘unchallenged’ by regulations
Securing the release of overseas-based players has proven to be tricky waters to navigate in recent years, hence why so many nations remain reluctant to pick stars not plying their trade on home soil, and Barbarians teams are far less star-studded than they once were.
However, with Rugby Australia now open-minded and loosening the shackles that once restricted Wallabies coaches around selecting overseas-based players, they must take a few pages out of the Springboks’ notebook on how to handle foreign clubs.
It’s worth noting that while Du Toit is unavailable to the Boks this week, the same is not true for Leinster lock RG Snyman, who will start against Japan while SA Rugby has repeatedly been able to negotiate with the Japanese clubs that South African players are free to play out of the Test windows. They are not required to do so and can enforce World Rugby regulation nine, but relationships with SA Rugby and JRLO look to be so strong that it’s almost a non-starter, whilst Australia had issues with Marika Koroibete and Samu Kerevi previously.
Erasmus touched on the subject after naming his team to face Japan at Wembley, where he detailed that it was not difficult to piece together a team to face the Brave Blossoms and that they had planned this fixture long in advance to get minutes into the legs of players who are contracted to Japanese clubs.
“It wasn’t a big challenge because we organised this match against Japan for the guys who play in the Japanese league, because they wouldn’t have played a lot of rugby if they didn’t play a lot of Test matches for us, and this fixture was organised for them,” he explained.
“The plan was always to get these guys because we found in the past that when we go on the end-of-year tour, when we played Ireland and France and teams like that, we had a bit of a slow start because some of our players who were based in Japan hadn’t really played a lot of rugby, and that’s why this fixture was here.
“The only guy that’s not been picked that probably could have been picked is Pieter-Steph du Toit, who plays in Japan, because we pick players from all over the world, we totally understand the logistics around the different protocols and different competitions, and when we start planning our season, we know that already.
“The Welsh Test match at the end of the year will also be a bit of a challenge because there are URC fixtures on for some of our franchises, even on that specific weekend. On the other hand, it’s also a positive that we still can put a pretty strong team out there. Players like Eben [Etzebeth], Canan [Moodie], and Damian [Willemse] are not playing.
“Then there is Faf [de Klerk], who is not even in this group because we want him to get some game time in the Japanese league, because he would not have been in the mix for this specific game. I can probably name quite a lot of players, but I don’t want to let it sound like I’m moaning. So, we’re fairly happy that this is what we wanted to try and achieve. Now, the job is to try to win the match.”
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Wallabies’ learnings
So the learnings for incoming Wallabies boss Les Kiss and Rugby Australia is how they can negotiate releases with the overseas clubs, and transparency is surely crucial. Notifying the club that player A will be needed during the Rugby Championship or July will go a long way in the club, then planning for their absence.
Rugby Australia have seemingly admitted defeat that they cannot hold onto all of their top stars and are bound to lose some to clubs abroad. Kiss would therefore do well to urge players to sign for clubs in certain leagues, like the Japanese, where securing a player’s release is far less complicated, as the competition does not clash with the international season.
PREM Rugby is notoriously difficult and not just with South Hemisphere nations, as Wales will be without several of their best players for the clash with the Boks at the end of November. In fact, PREM Rugby even fined Bath Rugby £60,000 back in 2017 after they allowed Taulupe Faletau to feature in a fixture outside of the official window.
The big difference between Rugby Australia and SA Rugby is their strategies around obtaining the services of players based abroad, which admittedly could be down to the head coaches’ call, with Schmidt making exceptions for star men not only during his time with the Wallabies but also with Ireland, too, as he notably only selected France-based Johnny Sexton during his tenure with the latter.
While SA Rugby and the Boks go out of their way to select players based abroad, the Wallabies have taken a far less hardline approach, seemingly conceding to the wishes of the clubs. World Rugby’s Regulation 9 is there to prevent clubs from denying players the opportunity to represent their international teams, but there is a reluctance from Rugby Australia to enforce it.
Sure, there is the possibility that it can impact a player’s worth overseas, but that can result in stars returning to Australia, which has been the case for the Boks. Eben Etzebeth, Wilco Louw, and now Du Toit are prime examples. Even Jasper Wiese turned down deals in France, heading to Japan instead, as it made him more accessible to the Boks.
But even with the infamously difficult French clubs, SA Rugby have had success regularly selecting Cheslin Kolbe and Cobus Reinach during their stints in France with little fuss.
If the Wallabies are to really bin their restrictions around selecting overseas-based players, they will need to up their efforts around ensuring that when they want access to the players, under World Rugby regulations, they get it.
Frankly, it’s a shame that Ikitau, Skelton and Hooper will not build on their success this season in November, but the blame should lie with the Wallabies’ nonchalant attitude, not with the so-called difficult clubs.
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