Giteau's law

Giteau's law, or the Giteau law, is a name given to a practice by the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) introduced in 2015 to allow overseas-based Australian rugby union players to be eligible to play for the Australian national rugby union team. The policy change is colloquially named after Matt Giteau, as the rule was seen primarily to bring Giteau into the Australian side for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.[1]

Year(s) Criteria
Apr. 2015–Sep. 2020 Minimum 60 Test caps for Australia; and/or seven seasons at Super Rugby level.
Sep. 2020–Feb. 2022
  • Minimum 60 Test caps for Australia; and/or seven seasons at Super Rugby level.
  • Two extra overseas-based players (no criteria).
Feb. 2022–present
  • Minimum 30 Test caps for Australia; and/or five seasons at Super Rugby level.
  • Only three overseas-based players can be selected per tournament/series.

Background

Before the policy change, players could play for the Australian national rugby union team only if they played for an Australian team in the Super Rugby competition.

Then-head coach Michael Cheika devised Giteau's Law to enable key overseas players to be eligible for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. In April 2015, the Australian Rugby Union announced this new arrangement.[1]

The rule also allows players to return to Test duty immediately if they have signed with a Super Rugby club for the following two years.[2]

Effect

Assistant national coach Stephen Larkham said the rule enabled the Australian world cup squad to benefit from more experienced players. He said ""It’s not just a team that’s a little bit older and therefore more experienced (but) we’ve got the right number of experienced guys, the right number of older guys and the right number of younger enthusiastic guys."[3]

The New Zealand Rugby Union Chief Executive Steve Tew said he would not implement such a rule as New Zealand "didn’t often follow Australia".[4]

Besides Giteau, Drew Mitchell returned from France for the 2015 World Cup under this rule.

Following the 2015 World Cup, head coach Michael Cheika hoped as much as 85% of the squad would be available for the 2019 Rugby World Cup including players available under Giteau's Law.[5]

Current eligible players

  • Caps updated: 25 August 2022
Player Position Date of birth (age) Caps Club/province
Sekope Kepu Prop (1986-02-05) 5 February 1986 (age 38) 110 New Zealand Moana Pasifika
Rory Arnold Lock (1990-07-01) 1 July 1990 (age 34) 30 Japan Hino Red Dolphins
Adam Coleman Lock (1991-10-07) 7 October 1991 (age 33) 38 England London Irish
Will Skelton Lock (1992-05-03) 3 May 1992 (age 32) 24 France La Rochelle
Rob Simmons Lock (1989-04-19) 19 April 1989 (age 35) 105 England London Irish
Tom Staniforth Lock (1994-07-13) 13 July 1994 (age 30) 0 France Castres
Kane Douglas Lock (1990-06-01) 1 June 1990 (age 34) 31 France Bordeaux Bègles
Sam Jeffries Lock (1992-05-20) 20 May 1992 (age 32) 0 England Bristol Bears
Sam Carter Lock (1989-09-10) 10 September 1989 (age 35) 16 Ireland Ulster
Liam Gill Flanker (1992-06-08) 8 June 1992 (age 32) 15 Japan Urayasu D-Rocks
Jarrad Butler Flanker (1991-07-20) 20 July 1991 (age 33) 0 Ireland Connacht
Jordy Reid Flanker (1991-10-03) 3 October 1991 (age 33) 0 England Gloucester Rugby
Lukhan Salakaia-Loto Flanker (1996-09-19) 19 September 1996 (age 28) 30 England Northampton Saints
Angus Scott-Young Flanker (1997-04-23) 23 April 1997 (age 27) 0 England Northampton Saints
Will Genia Scrum-half (1988-01-17) 17 January 1988 (age 36) 110 Japan Hanazono Kintetsu Liners
Joe Powell Scrum-half (1994-04-11) 11 April 1994 (age 30) 4 England London Irish
Bernard Foley Fly-half (1989-09-08) 8 September 1989 (age 35) 76 Japan Kubota Spears
Quade Cooper Fly-half (1988-04-05) 5 April 1988 (age 36) 76 Japan Hanazono Kintetsu Liners
Duncan Paia'aua Fly-half (1995-01-20) 20 January 1995 (age 29) 0 France Toulon
Jake McIntyre Fly-half (1994-04-24) 24 April 1994 (age 30) 0 France Perpignan
Samu Kerevi Centre (1993-09-27) 27 September 1993 (age 31) 41 Japan Tokyo Sungoliath
Matt To'omua Centre (1990-01-02) 2 January 1990 (age 34) 59 Japan Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars
Alex Newsome Centre (1996-01-20) 20 January 1996 (age 28) 0 France Clermont Auvergne
Kyle Godwin Centre (1992-07-30) 30 July 1992 (age 32) 1 France Lyon
Ben Tapuai Centre (1989-01-19) 19 January 1989 (age 35) 7 South Africa Sharks
Marika Koroibete Wing (1992-06-26) 26 June 1992 (age 32) 47 Japan Saitama Wild Knights
Henry Speight Wing (1988-03-24) 24 March 1988 (age 36) 19 France Biarritz
Joe Tomane Wing (1990-02-11) 11 February 1990 (age 34) 17 France Biarritz
Luke Morahan Wing (1990-04-13) 13 April 1990 (age 34) 3 France Bayonne
Jack Maddocks Fullback (1997-02-05) 5 February 1997 (age 27) 7 France Pau
Tom Banks Fullback (1994-06-18) 18 June 1994 (age 30) 21 Japan Honda Heat

Amendments

In 2020, Rugby Australia approved an amendment to Giteau's Law that allowed up to two overseas-based players to be selected, regardless of the total overseas-based players in the squad, that did not meet the original criteria to be selected.[6][7]

In February 2022 further amendments were made to the Giteau Law. The new amendments would lower the original rule (sixty test caps for Australia and a minimum of seven seasons at Super rugby level) to thirty test caps and five years at Super Rugby level, respectively. However, the new amendment only allowed for three overseas-based players to be selected.[8][9] Just five months after new amendments to the policy, coach Dave Rennie urged Rugby Australia (RA) to expand the overseas-based player policy to four.[10][11]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Winners and losers under Giteau's Law". The Sydney Morning Herald. 24 April 2015.
  2. ^ "Matt Giteau Cost Himself 250,000 By Pursuing Rugby World Cup Dream". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  3. ^ "Giteau's Law is More Valuable Than Creating Wallabies Milestones". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  4. ^ "If Giteau's Law Backfires Look Out for Backflip from Bill Pulver". Theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  5. ^ "Motorsport Video |Motorsport Highlights, Replays, News, Clips".
  6. ^ "Wallabies relax Matt Giteau Law criteria for 2020". ESPN. 10 September 2020.
  7. ^ Decent, Tom (10 September 2022). "Rugby Australia loosens Wallabies selection policy via Giteau Law amendment". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  8. ^ Payten, Iain (25 February 2022). "Wallabies stars to miss World Cup as Giteau Law gets drastic makeover". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  9. ^ Bruce, Sam (25 February 2022). "Caps cut, but spots limited in RA's new overseas selection policy". ESPN.
  10. ^ Payten, Iain (21 July 2022). "Four into three won't go: Rennie flags increase in Giteau Law limit". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  11. ^ "Wallabies boss Dave Rennie calls for further tweaks to Giteau Law". RugbyPass. 22 July 2022.