Bledisloe Cup: Wallabies rule out kneeling during national anthem to support Black Lives Matter
New Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has put an end to speculation that the national team would take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement prior to the Bledisloe Cup.
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Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has revealed his players will not take a knee during the Bledisloe Cup national anthem on Saturday week.
After senior Wallaby Dane Haylett-Petty had said the team would consider it, having been asked by a reporter last Wednesday if it was a move they’d be willing to make to support the Black Lives Matter movement, Rennie put an end to speculation on Friday.
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“No we won’t,” said Rennie, adding that the team does not want to make a political statement while wearing their newly designed Indigenous jersey.
“The key thing is, this is about honouring our Indigenous people, we want the focus to be on that,” Rennie said.
“Everyone’s got their own opinions around the other situation (BLM), but we want the focus to be around reflecting on our past.
“We talked about the Indigenous jersey, the group would like to see that represented every week in our Test jersey, not just as a one-off, so I think this is a first step in regard to embracing that part of our history.”
Former All Black Julian Savea said he would be willing to take a knee during the New Zealand national anthem to support BLM, but Rennie said: “Our focus is on the first nations people and our Indigenous jersey, we’re not looking to make a political statement.”
Rennie added: “We’ve talked a lot about who we are, and who we represent, and we’ve got a lot of different cultures in our group, but we’ve spent a lot of time talking about past, present and future in regards to our first nations people and this is a great opportunity to honour that next weekend.”
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WALLABIES CONSIDERED TAKING A KNEE PRIOR TO BLEDISLOE CUP
Senior Wallaby Dane Haylett-Petty revealed the squad considered making a silent protest statement before the third Bledisloe Cup Test against the All Blacks on October 31 at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium, when they will wear their new Indigenous-designed jersey.
While several sporting clubs and organisations around the world have taken a knee before games or openly supported BLM – including the NBA, European soccer and English Super League – the Wallabies would have been the only Australian side to do so.
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“It’s great that sport has an amazing opportunity to have a say and join conversations, a lot of sports have done that and it would be a great thing for us to do,” Haylett-Petty said.
“I obviously can’t speak for everyone but definitely I think it’d be a great show of support.
“I think that’s probably a discussion to have as a group, and we’d definitely consider it.”
Under new coach Dave Rennie, a Kiwi of Cook Islands heritage, the Wallabies have embraced learning about different cultures and learned how to sing Fijian and Tongan songs during camp before the Bledisloe opener a fortnight ago.
“He‘s obviously big on bringing the different cultures together, you’ve probably seen some of the songs we’ve been singing, learning about different cultures,” Haylett-Petty said.
“We‘ve got a very diverse group and we see that as a big strength of ours. And this only adds to it as well, being able to represent all Australians, especially First Nations people, by wearing this jersey.”
While the Wallabies will don the new first nations strip for the first time in Sydney, no player of Indigenous heritage has been picked in the squad, an alarming concern for how rugby is developing talent from within those communities.
Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan said: “I think it shows that we’ve got to open more player pathways for Indigenous rugby players, but what it also says is that we’re very committed to an inclusive culture.
“We’re very proud of our Aboriginal and Indigenous heritage, and we’re going to promote it proudly.”
Indigenous Wallabies legend Gary Ella said league took the early advantage over union to lure talent because they were paying players from the beginning – whereas rugby only turned professional in 1996.
“In the beginning, league was really dominant, and if you have a look at the states outside of NSW and Queensland, AFL had a real strong base for a very long time,” Ella said.
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“We’re gradually introducing the game to more Aboriginal communities around Australia (with the) Big Time (development program) getting players to be associated with sevens teams, but it’s also now we’re having a lot more players playing club rugby.
“We’ve had good success recently and having a lot more people going into Super, and there are now Aboriginal communities seeing that opportunity where they can play professional. And they’re looking for that opportunity.
“I think that the league has always been professional and so it had an early footing, so people could make a living playing that particular sport. But now they’re saying that rugby’s offers just as much.”