Wallabies stars to miss World Cup as Giteau Law gets drastic makeover

Deciding between Rory Arnold or Marika Koroibete for the 2023 Rugby World Cup shapes as an agonising choice for Wallabies coach Dave Rennie under drastic changes to the “Giteau Law”.

Rugby Australia will announce a new “offshore player policy” on Friday that will open the door to a wider selection of overseas-based players for the Wallabies by cutting the Test threshhold from 60 to 30, or if a player has spent five years on a Super Rugby contract.

But in a major change, the policy will restrict Rennie to just three offshore players per series or tournament. That would present a brutal choice for July’s Test series against England – and beyond to the World Cup next year – with sources indicating Samu Kerevi and Quade Cooper are locked in as priority picks.

That would leave a single spot for Arnold, Koroibete, Will Skelton, Tolu Latu or Sean McMahon.

Previously, the Giteau Law – so called because it allowed France-based Matt Giteau to play in the 2015 Rugby World Cup – required a player to have played 60 Tests and to have given seven years service to Australian rugby to be eligible for the Wallabies while based outside Australia. In the last two years, Rennie was given several “exemptions” due to COVID-19.

After a six-month review of eligibility settings by RA directors Phil Waugh, Anthony Herbert and chief executive Andy Marinos, the RA board has signed off on a formal new policy “designed to protect the integrity of the game in this country”.

Quade Cooper, Samu Kerevi and Sean McMahon were part of a Giteau Law experiment in 2021.Credit: Getty, Getty, Supplied

Rich competitions in England, France and Japan are increasingly luring top Australians overseas, and some argued for RA to scrap eligibility restrictions to be able to compete at Test level. That was never an option, Marinos said.

“It is very important that we protect the integrity of the game in this country and we want to see Super Rugby clubs having their best players playing, and we can only do that if we retain our players. If you open it up, no doubt you have a far greater exodus down the line.”

The new policy has the dual outcome of making more people eligible for selection from overseas – the five years service can be done on a “wider squad contract” at a Super Rugby club, for example – but also drastically cuts the number of players who can be called up.

With only three offshore players per tournament, the cap means some big names will miss out on the World Cup in 2023. After loosening the Giteau Law in recent years, it appears to be a muscular attempt to scare off mid-tier Test players from taking up big offers from overseas.

The then-Australian Rugby Union changed its eligibility rules in 2015 so Matt Giteau could turn out at the 2015 World Cup.Credit: AP

“We are comfortable with three, we believe three is enough, we believe we have enough good players and enough talent coming through our system that we don’t need to extend it beyond that,” Marinos said.

“Dave and the coaches are absolutely focused on rewarding and selecting players at home first. And that will continue to be the priority.”

While not shutting the door on future “exemptions”, Marinos said the new policy would not change in the 2023 World Cup year and that any additions to the cap of three players would require “extenuating circumstances”.

“It will be highly unlikely, unless we are faced with very unique circumstances,” he said.

Marika Koroibete playing for the Wallabies in 2021.Credit: Getty

Koroibete, who now plays at Panasonic in Japan, is believed to have his nose in front as the third pick for July given his standout attacking prowess and importance to the Wallabies in recent years. On average, the 2019 John Eales medallist scores a try every 2.6 Tests.

But that would mean no room for Arnold. Rennie is a huge fan of the 208cm lock. Injury denied him the chance to pick Arnold as an exemption in 2020, but he finally got him on the Spring Tour in 2021.

Rugby Australia was desperate to get Arnold back to Australia but was blown out of the water by a staggering $1.5m a year offer from a Japanese club.

Rugby Australia has also made a number of senior executive appointments, with former Australian Institute of Sport chief executive Peter Conde named as the new chief performance officer. Former World Rugby executive Marissa Pace is the new chief marketing officer and James Durbin is the new chief commercial officer.

The appointments will free up 2027 World Cup bid executive Anthony French to return to full-time bid duties before the vote in May.

Watch every match of the Six Nations and Super Rugby Pacific on the Home of Rugby, Stan Sport. Super Rugby Pacific continues this weekend with Waratahs v Reds (Friday 7pm AEDT), Brumbies v Fijian Drua (Saturday 2pm) and Rebels v Force (Saturday 7pm AEDT). All streaming ad-free, live and on demand only on Stan Sport.

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