Rugby World Cup 2015: Bernard Foley ‘definitely’ open to overseas offers after tournament

WALLABIES five-eighth Bernard Foley would “definitely” consider joining the exodus of Australian players to overseas rugby when his contract expires at the end of this season.

Bernard Foley after Waratahs training at the bus loop oval, Moore Park, Sydney. pic Mark Evans

WALLABIES five-eighth Bernard Foley has confirmed he would “definitely” consider joining the exodus of Australian players to overseas rugby when his contract expires at the end of this season.

Australian rugby is already reeling from Sekope Kepu, Nic White, James Horwill, Scott Higginbotham and Adam Ashley-Cooper announcing in recent weeks their departure to European rugby after the Rugby World Cup, which kicks off in September.

Foley is coming off a successful 2014 season, highlighted by his matchwinning goal to deliver the NSW Waratahs their maiden Super Rugby title.

The 25-year-old said he was open to overseas offers.

“Definitely,” Foley said. “That’s the beauty of rugby being a world game you can go over and experience new cultures and languages. It’s a great thing.

“I never thought that rugby would be a career of mine or that I’d be able to play at this level I still sort of pinch myself.

“Being given the chance to start through the sevens and then at the Waratahs, you are never sure when that opportunity will come.

“Sometimes you’re not prepared or not ready for it but you’ve got to apply yourself fully and try to make the most of it because you never know.

“You don’t want to walk away thinking that you just missed out on a great opportunity.”

Despite so many Australian players taking up overseas contracts, Foley denied the Wallabies jersey no longer had the appeal to match that of foreign chequebooks.

“Not at all,” said Foley, who is a hopeful starter for the Wallabies in the World Cup.

“I don’t think any Wallaby player who’s ever played in that jersey has taken it for granted.

“It’s up there with the highest honours you can have in Australian rugby and Australian sport.”

Foley believes that instead of fearing the outgoing flood of local talent, Australian fans should celebrate players who take their chance to experience overseas competition, and in so doing open up doors for the next crop of rugby superstars.

“The great thing about rugby is that it’s a world game,” Foley said. “And there are experiences that you get through rugby that you can’t get through any other sport or career path.

“So for them to expand their horizons and go over and play overseas then good on them, when a person leaves it just creates an opportunity for another player.

“There’s so much young talent coming through in Australian rugby at the moment that I’m sure those gaps will be filled.”

Bernard Foley: “The great thing about rugby is that it’s a world game”.

Foley has been on a high since he kicked what has become one of the most iconic goals in Australian rugby history in August last year, the 44m special that delivered the Waratah’s their first ever championship.

So cool was Foley in ending the Tahs’ 19-year drought, former Wallaby-turned-commentator Nathan Sharpe nicknamed him ‘The Iceman’.

“I think it was a throwaway line that Sharpey [Nathan Sharpe] used in commentary,” Foley said. “But it stuck a bit and it just puts more pressure on the next kick.”

Foley backed up his reputation in the Wallabies’ spring tour of Europe. He produced a faultless 18-point haul with the boot to guide his team to victory over Wales, including a cool 25m drop goal with seven minutes remaining to seal victory.

Asked how he keeps a level head as he sizes up these matchwinning efforts, Foley insists it’s important to keep it simple.

“You try not to get ahead of yourself, you’ve got to keep playing in the moment and try not to think too far ahead.”

But for Foley, who has now played four seasons of Super Rugby, there are a lot of hard yards between now and another chance to implement his game-winning strategy.

Bernard Foley is attracted by the possibility of playing rugby in a foreign environment.

Ahead of him this year, “week to week footy for pretty much 10 months,” he says ahead of a Super Rugby season that starts on the 15th of February against the Force before the Rugby World Cup in September.

“It’s going to be really tough this year, we’ve just got to be smart in how we prepare and recover from games and keep doing things to evolve our bodies and to keep that ability to stay fresh mentally and physically.”

First off the block for the Waratahs are two trial matches in Western Sydney, the second of which will have Sonny-Bill Williams return to Sydney to lead the Chiefs at Campbelltown Stadium on February 6.

Foley praised the idea of playing both trials in Sydney’s west considering the usual difficulties of gaining exposure for the sport with only one team in the state.

“It’s a great experience for us and a great opportunity for us to grow the game in the heartland of Sydney,” he said.

The Waratahs first trial will be next Saturday at the Parramatta Rugby Club where they will verse Randwick, Sydney Uni and Parramatta in separate 30 minute encounters.

Originally published as Rugby World Cup 2015: Bernard Foley ‘definitely’ open to overseas offers after tournament