Should Giteau be considered for the Rugby World Cup?
Before the Heineken Cup final Saracens’ coach Mark McCall said that his team had to watch Matt Giteau.
He is a very special player, because he’s got not only a fantastic passing game, he kicks the ball well, he’s stronger and quicker than most people think […] you can’t take your eye off him for a second, he’s a superb player.
McCall’s heart would have sunk when Giteau put on a magic moment against Sarries and finished it off by scoring the try he created. It wouldn’t have been his only brilliancy of the season because he has been one of the best players in the Top 14.
Some Australians who have not seen him play for Toulon will have a jaundiced view of his ability but they should see him now. He plays solely in his best position of inside centre, is facilitating his outside runners better than he ever did at home, and the sideways crabbing is virtually absent.
Australia does not chose those who are playing overseas but should Giteau, as a one off, be allowed to play in the 2015 Rugby World Cup?
Wacko Mourad Boudjellal – has a cunning plan
England has a similar policy. Even though domestic competitions in Europe have windows enabling players to play for their countries, England choose only those from the English Premiership unless there are “exceptional circumstances”.
The man-of-the-match in the Heineken Cup final, Toulon’s Steffon Armitage, who has just been chosen as European Player Of The Year, will probably never appear for England again though they lack a backrower of his type.
In the SANZAR countries South Africans are allowed to play for the Springboks, but New Zealand takes the same hard line as Australia does.
The ANZAC countries use the Rugby World Cup as a magnet to keep players at home and it helps their Super Rugby teams to be more competitive also. Australia doesn’t want to start an exodus of Wallabies overseas, but could they, like England, be ready to make allowance for “exceptional circumstances”.
If you say “never”, be careful. When his club won the Heineken Cup final on the weekend, wacko millionaire Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal, who bought Sonny Bill Williams, Jonny Wilkinson, and George Smith, has a cunning plan and said he would buy a fantastic four:
In a year, I will try to do the biggest thing I’ve ever done. I have an idea in my head, a crazy idea; I will try to make it happen. There are Quatre Fantastiques in the rugby world, I truly want to do that Grand Slam.
Israel Folau will be one of the fantastic four as sure as God made little apples. If he gets an offer he can’t refuse when his current contract expires, will a Wallaby exception ever be made for him?
Israel Folau – will he be an exception?
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