Giteau Law may extend across Tasman

Australia is considering extending Wallabies eligibility to players based in New Zealand Super Rugby sides.

Wallabies prop Jermaine Ainsley will play for the Highlanders next season Picture: AFP

Australia is considering extending Wallabies eligibility to Australian players based in New Zealand Super Rugby sides as part of a total review of selection criteria and the Giteau Law, according to national selector Scott Johnson.

The decision of Melbourne Rebels prop Jermaine Ainsley this week to sign with the Highlanders for next season highlighted the small but growing band of Australians who have joined New Zealand Super Rugby squads but, in doing so, have forfeited their rights to play or continue to play for the Wallabies.

Ainsley, the son of a former All Black prop Joe McDonnell, played three Tests for Australia in 2018 against the All Blacks, Italy and England and at 24 is only just coming into his prime.

There have been other instances in recent seasons, such as former Rebels five-eighth Jack Debreczeni, who played 54 matches for Melbourne before ultimately joining the Chiefs, while 2015 World Cup prop Toby Smith played another 21 matches for the Hurricanes after leaving the Rebels at the end of the 2017 season.

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Johnson, Rugby Australia’s director of rugby, said all those circumstances needed to be examined. “I think we have to review everything, we have to,” Johnson said. “Some of that will be RA board decisions but we wouldn’t be doing our job if we weren’t reviewing it. There are good arguments for, good arguments against. But certainly it is a different argument than if they were playing abroad (in Europe or Japan for example), given that they are part of the Super Rugby tournament.”

It seems bizarre that a footballer playing in the same Super Rugby tournament from which the Wallabies are traditionally selected would be debarred from playing for Australia simply because he was playing for a New Zealand team. Nonetheless, the situation is also the same for New Zealand players who come to Australian clubs. They cannot be chosen for the All Blacks.

But with discussions of a 2021 trans-Tasman competition already having started between Australia and NZ, it seems sensible that both countries rationalise their selection policies.

It was evident as recently as 2017 that Australia didn’t have the numbers to make five teams competitive but a sprinkling of NZ players at each franchise could solve the problem.

Kyle Godwin, a 2016 Wallaby recruited by the Western Force to bolster their squad for the rebooted Super Rugby AU competition which starts on July 3, said on Friday he is hoping that playing again for the Perth franchise will reactivate his own international career.

Godwin, who was brought back from Europe along with Jono Lance and Ollie Atkins and fellow Wallaby Greg Holmes to bolster the Force squad, made a belated Wallabies debut in the spring tour win over France in 2016 before moving to Canberra to the Brumbies. He spent two seasons there before accepting an offer to move to Connaught to link up with former ACT coach Andy Friend.

He will move on to the Waratahs next season but in the meantime he is looking to make the Force more competitive — and in the process enhance his own selection prospects.

“I think it’s at the back of every player’s mind in Australia to play for your country,” said the 27-year-old centre. “It’s the pinnacle of your sport so it will definitely be in the back of my mind.”