MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australia has tweaked its policy on selecting overseas-based players for international duty as it tries to strike a balance between building a strong Wallabies side and protecting domestic rugby.
Australia’s previous policy, known as the “Giteau Law”, limited selection of overseas-based players to those with at least 60 test caps.
The updated policy will limit Wallabies coach Dave Rennie and other national team coaches to selecting three overseas-based players for any tournament, series or competition, Rugby Australia said on Friday.
The players must have at least 30 test caps or have completed a minimum of five years playing in Australia.
However, the policy will also allow any overseas-based player to be selected so long as they have contractually committed to playing in Australia the following year.
“These amendments reflect a fit-for-purpose policy which will help our national teams compete at their best on the international stage across both the XVs and 7s games,” Rugby Australia boss Andy Marinos said in a statement.
“Rugby is a global sport and we recognise the challenging environment we operate within where we realise we cannot keep all players on our shores.
“Our message is simple, if you want to put yourself in the shop window for international selection you are still best served playing at home.”
Rennie was permitted to pick some overseas-based players who did not meet the 60-cap threshold last season due to travel complications brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the arbitrary selections came under fire when flyhalf Quade Cooper and other Japan-based players snubbed the Wallabies’ season-ending tour to Britain to stay with their clubs.
The disruption proved costly and Australia lost all three matches on the tour.
Australia has battled a talent drain for years, with elite players heading off-shore to chase bigger contracts in Japan and Europe.
With less talent to pick from at home, the twice world champion Wallabies have slumped to sixth in the global rankings and were eliminated from the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Cup in Japan, matching their worst ever performance at the tournament.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Ed Osmond)
