Rugby union: Henry Speight to join French club Biarritz

There was added incentive for Dave Rennie to speak with cross-code buy Suliasi Vunivola of the Storm on the weekend.

Henry Speight, who is on his way to France, was a chance of a Wallabies recall.

There was added incentive for Wallabies coach Dave Rennie to speak with cross-code buy Suliasi Vunivola of the Melbourne Storm on the weekend following news that the Queensland Rugby Union has agreed to release Henry Speight to join French club Biarritz on a three-year deal.

It seemed to most observers that Speight, 32, was looking to wind down his career at the Reds after putting in nine productive seasons at the Brumbies, becoming with them the first Fijian-born Australian to register 100 Super Rugby caps.

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Instead, he dramatically lifted his standard, opening his account for Queensland with a sizzling try off an inside Isaac Lucas pass against his former side – becoming the first person ever to score against every club in Super Rugby – and then notching arguably the best team try of the season against the Crusaders in Christchurch.

His Wallabies career looked to have come to an end when he played his 19th Test against Scotland at Murrayfield in 2017, but there was little doubt that had he continued in this vein of form, he would have again excited interest from Wallabies coach Dave Rennie and the Australian selectors. “Without a doubt,” said Scott Johnson, Rugby Australia’s director of rugby and a national selector last year.

But when Speight was offered a three-year contract at Biarritz, the widespread feeling was that it would be unfair to such a good servant of Australian rugby by refusing to release him from the Reds, even though he is signed through until the end of 2021.

“He is a player that I don’t want to lose to our system,” Johnson admitted. “He has a really good way with people and has really good professionalism and I think he adds to our environment. So it was a really difficult thing to let him go, but it was the right thing to do for a 32-year-old to allow him to secure his future.

Vunivalu, however, promises to slot neatly into Speight’s place in the Reds and potentially into the Wallabies as well. His management had been expressing some doubt about his move back to rugby and the Storm was quick to claim him back, but Rennie, at Johnson’s request, contacted him for a get-to-know-you call.

“He is a big signing for us and we have bought him to play for the Wallabies – no guarantees but he has that opportunity,” Johnson said. “He is a good signing for the Reds and whilst he is not available for Australia now, going forward you would like to think that he will press for a place.

“So it was an introduction for Dave and Suliasi. We thought we would have him from September onwards (but that all changed once the NRL season was extended.) But as soon as the league season is finished, he’s coming to us. So don’t forget that he is in our system, even if not currently in our system.”

Reds coach Brad Thorn certainly has not forgotten Vunivalu, though he was anxious to pay tribute to the man he will replace. “We’ll miss Henry, but we’re happy to send him along his way,” Thorn said. “He’s contributed so much for Australian rugby for more than a decade. When one door closes, another one opens. It’s awesome we have another quality player in Suliasi Vunivalu set to join our program.”

Even though Speight is scheduled to leave before the end of the month, it is possible that he could yet see action in the rebooted Super Rugby AU next month if he is unable to get a flight to France. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Johnson said.

It has been confirmed that dual international Michael O’Connor is no longer an Australian selector. He was scheduled to go through until the end of this year, but when RA went into stand-down mode at the start of the pandemic, it was decided to end his role immediately. It has not yet been determined who will take his place, with RA to have discussions with Rennie when he arrives in Australia next month.

Meanwhile, the Australian Super Rugby coaches will be briefed by World Rugby’s director of referees, Alain Rolland, tomorrow on how referees were adjudicating the breakdown in the NZ competition on the weekend.

There was no law variation, just a difference in how the existing law was being interpreted. Once the “jackler” – the player attempting to steal the ball in the tackle – needed to survive the initial cleanout to win a penalty, but now if he simply gets his hands on the ball and intends to strip it, the law works for him.

That interpretation also will be used here but hopefully Rolland can help Australians learn from the NZ experience. “I don’t know what the implications are at the moment, except to say there are a lot of penalties,” Johnson said.