Sherrin the love: How sessions at Swans HQ has a Wallabies veteran ready for duty

In 2022, Bernard Foley saw Quade Cooper suffer an Achilles’ tendon injury and shot a text from Japan to the Wallabies manager in Mendoza: “Available to do a job if needed.”

He was needed, and for a five-Test stint, Foley did a highly effective job – wearing the No.10 in strong Wallabies performances against New Zealand, Ireland, France and Scotland. Last year, despite being involved in pre-World Cup planning and camps, Foley was one of the many senior players cut adrift by Eddie Jones.

Two years on from that 2022 text, the message from Foley hasn’t changed: available to do a job for the Wallabies.

“I think every Australian rugby player should have that mindset and attitude,” Foley said.

Foley returns to Japan this week for another season with the Kubota Spears. The 35-year-old has been on the comeback trail from ankle surgery and, in an unusual twist, has been training in the swish Sydney Swans facilities at Moore Park for the past few months.

The Swans connection comes through the man running his rehab, former Wallabies and Waratahs physio Kieran Cleary. The highly-respected Cleary recently departed Rugby Australia after 18 years of service.

Bernard Foley still aspires to play for the Wallabies.Credit: Rhett Wyman

Foley has not spoken with Joe Schmidt, focusing instead on getting back on the field. But even at 35, he feels as good as ever and believes his game management has only improved since moving to Japan in 2020. Foley steered Kubota to a Top League title in 2022-23, before injury derailed his 2023-24 season.

“There’s a lot of world-class players now every week that you’re playing with and against,” he said.

Foley has no issues with getting brushed by Jones – “I’ve got no ill feeling, he made a decision and went with it” – but said he felt sorry for the young Wallabies as they struggled at the World Cup. He tweeted at the time: “It didn’t have to be this like this”.

“I just didn’t think they were set up to succeed, you know, and that’s not their fault,” Foley explains.

Bernard Foley playing against France on the Wallabies’ Spring Tour in 2022.Credit: Getty

At 35, many will argue Foley’s time has passed and the No.10 torch should stay in the possession of younger options playing in Australia, like Noah Lolesio and Ben Donaldson, in whom Schmidt has thrown his faith. But there is also an argument an experienced, 71-cap playmaker like Foley would be a valuable presence in any squad, as Ireland showed with Jonny Sexton playing through to the age of 38.

“That’s what I probably learnt back in ’22 – I felt like I played some good rugby, but it was more the experience and the calmness you were contributing to the younger blokes,” Foley said.

Foley kicking a conversion for Kubota.Credit: Getty

“Being a young kid and having experienced that, you can get caught up in a lot of things. So, just trying to simplify the game for them, and just improving the IQ amongst the whole squad and helping out those 10s in terms of learning their craft.”

As far as the Giteau Law debate, Foley says the current Wallabies don’t need more than a handful of senior overseas guys, as the current rules allow. But he says all overseas Aussies should aspire to be in that handful.

SEVEN INTO FIFTEEN

Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp is due to meet with Australian sevens officials and RA Women’s High Performance manager Jaime Fernandez in coming weeks to discuss some Aussie sevens stars potentially being involved in the 15-a-side World Cup in England next year.

The Wallaroos secured their spot in the tournament with their win in WXV2 earlier in the month, and sevens stars like Charlotte Caslick and Maddi Levi have previously expressed interest in vying for selection.

Maddison Levi and Charlotte Caslick are interested in trying to make the Wallaroos team for the 2025 Rugby World Cup.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

The timing is fine, with the Sevens World Series finished by the August kickoff, but there are still issues to resolve. Most have no recent experience in 15s, so Caslick and other sevens aspirants would need to play some Super W games to prove their adaptability.

But the other question is how many sevens players are even needed. Caslick would be a fullback (if she can kick), but most sevens players like Levi and Bienne Terita are wingers – and the Wallaroos’ best two players currently are their wings, Maya Stewart and Desiree Miller.

BABY WAIT

Dave Porecki was a welcome sight at the Wallabies camp in Canberra last week, after not playing a game this year due to chronic Achilles tendon problems. But even though the hooker is back to fitness, Porecki won’t go on the Spring Tour because he and his wife are expecting twins in November.

The Wallabies and Australia A squads are set to be named this week. The selection of an Australia A squad is always fraught because it is RA’s nominated second eligibility capture team. It means you can’t play Test rugby for another country, and you also get classed as a Test player in many overseas competitions.

We hear there has been some concern and consideration, as usual, among players who don’t feel like they’re close to Wallabies selection and don’t want to restrict their offshore options.