Overseas-based Australians are now eligible for Wallabies selection after the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) announced a drastic change to its player contracting policy on Wednesday.
Players plying their trade abroad will be in contention to represent the side under the new policy – effective immediately – if they have played more than 60 Tests for Australia and have held a professional contract with the ARU for at least seven years.
Previously, the ARU had a long-standing policy preventing overseas-based players from featuring for the national team.
It will mean the likes of Matt Giteau (Toulon, France), George Smith (Suntory Sungoliath, Japan) and Drew Mitchell (Toulon, France) are in the mix for possible selection for the Rugby World Cup, which will take place in England and Wales across September and October.
Giteau was quick to respond to the news. Postin on Twitter, he said: “Massive news re. @QantasWallabies policy change..The ultimate honour to represent your country however form still must warrant selection.”
ARU chief executive officer Bill Pulver said: “This is a pivotal moment for rugby in Australia, where for the first time in its professional history, the ARU will allow overseas-based players who have made a significant contribution to Australian rugby to become eligible for the Wallabies.
“It’s a decision that recognises the changing dynamics of a global rugby market for professional players. Combined with our other recruitment and retention strategies, we feel this decision allows the ARU to assert more influence over player movement and contracting in Australia and abroad.”
Pulver added: “Those players who satisfy the 60-game and seven-year threshold have already invested heavily and contributed considerably to Australian rugby over a long period of time.
“The policy also encourages those players who have not yet reached that point to commit exclusively to Australian rugby in the prime of their career. In this way, we believe the policy supports Super Rugby by encouraging our top players to remain in Australia for longer.
“It also means we can invest more money into our younger players in the long-term, while ensuring our most experienced players leaving for overseas can still contribute to the overall success of the code in Australia – on and off the field.”
Australia are in Pool A for this year’s World Cup, where they will face England, Wales, Fiji and Uruguay.