Club v country compromise reached in Australia

The Australian Rugby Union has acted quickly to alleviate tension between Wallabies staff and Super 14 clubs by allowing selected players to play the last 40 minutes of their final trial games.

The ARU had originally flagged a group of 22 Wallabies, who are the core team for the 2007 World Cup, to be rested from the trial games leading into this year’s Super 14 in an attempt to limit player burn-out in the national squad.

With conjecture between the two parties over the amount of training allowed under the original agreement, the ARU has introduced the new scheme, which it hopes will clear up the misunderstandings many players and officials had.

With full-back Chris Latham injured at Queensland Reds training and unlikely to play for the Wallabies at the World Cup, Pat Wilson, general manager of the ARU’s rugby unit expressed his disappointment at the original agreement not being followed by all Super 14 clubs.

“We maintain that the original RTA was in everyone’s best interests and had been reached after exhaustive consultation with the Provinces,” Wilson said.

“We held the discussions in good faith and always sought to accommodate everyone’s wishes. The success of the Provincial and National teams are not mutually exclusive.”

With Wallabies hooker Stephen Moore and Reds coach Eddie Jones admitting to both being confused by the original training agreement, the ARU expects the new rules to leave both clubs and Wallabies officials happy and clear as to what is expected.

“We appreciate there will always be tension between the national and provincial teams around the issue of player resting, that is why we are sensitive to the interests of the Provinces and we continue to consult with them.

“Therefore at this time we will allow the Wallaby players, in consultation with the National and provincial coaches, the respective provincial and national high performance directors and medical staff, the option to play the last 40 minutes of each Province’s final trial match.”