Giteau Law needs scrutiny as Cheika casts Wallabies net wide

The Giteau Law may actually be working against the Wallabies’ intention to build squad depth.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika is aiming to keep players in Australia longer this year.

The Rugby Union Players Association believes the 60-Test Giteau Law threshold to allow Wallabies to be selected from overseas clubs may, in fact, be contributing to more players heading abroad ­because they view the target as ­unreachable.

RUPA chief executive Ross Xenos stressed that his organisation was completely aligned with the Australian Rugby Union in wanting the best footballers playing in Australia.

“Through discussions we’re going to have later in the year as part of our negotiations for a ­collective bargaining agreement, it is very firmly on our agenda to have discussions with the ARU on how to keep our best talent on Australian shores,” Xenos told The Australian yesterday.

“Our view is that the game would be best served by maintaining the eligibility rules as they are, in the short term. We saw the ­benefits of the rules through the Rugby World Cup and by introducing the flexibility rules we were able to draft in some world-class players who weren’t playing in Australia to support the Wallabies cause.

“The jury is still out on whether we are now suffering the indirect outcomes of that policy change, where some players who thought they may have been next in line for a position, which might have kept them in the country, are now viewing that as being too far away to ­remain in Australia for that reason alone.

“So I think we need to give it a bit more time to understand what the current eligibility rules mean and what their impact is. The ­challenge with having a nominal number of Tests is that the policy can actually be a disincentive for someone who feels like they are too far away from reaching that number.”

The Giteau Law comes with a prohibitive secondary clause, which states that not only must a player reach 60 Tests, they must have given seven years to Super Rugby in Australia. In the case of, for example, Matt Toomua, who has played non-stop for the Brumbies since 2008 yet only accumulated 32 Test caps, a relaxation of the law might be in order to allow him to be selected from abroad.

Similarly, Reds flanker Liam Gill, who bows out for Queensland on Friday night against the Melbourne Rebels after giving six years of service at Super Rugby level, deserves some selection leniency as he prepares later this year to head for Toulon.

Gill has played only 15 Tests since making his debut in 2012 but is regarded as one of the unluckiest players in Wallabies history because his career coincided with David Pocock, Michael Hooper and Sean McMahon, all world-class flankers.

Gill and Toomua, who has signed with the Leicester Tigers, will not be going anywhere for the duration, with Wallabies coach Michael Cheika certain to select them in upcoming camps to prepare the national side for The Rugby Championships, starting with a Test against the All Blacks in Sydney on August 20.

Indeed, that also will apply to Israel Folau, Kurtley Beale, Greg Holmes, Taqele Naiyarovro and Christian Leali’iffano — all bound for overseas clubs this year, albeit a sabbatical.