Israel Folau hearing to reconvene on Tuesday

Wallaby full-back Israel Folau’s code of conduct hearing will reconvene on Tuesday after there was no resolution following two days of talks in Sydney.

Folau attended a second day of the hearing on Sunday and though a result was not expected to be handed down, that two full days have not been enough to complete the hearing was somewhat of a surprise.

To put the time-frame into context, the last code of conduct hearing of this kind – in 2014 involving Kurtley Beale – was over in a relatively short six hours.

Rugby Australia (RA) CEO Raelene Castle gave more evidence on Sunday, having fronted the hearing on Saturday as well, while NSW Rugby CEO Andrew Hore also spoke on the second day.

The panel of John West QC (chair), Rugby Australia-appointed Kate Eastman SC and the RUPA-appointed John Boultbee will reconvene on Tuesday for another day of the hearing, with still more time required to finalise a written judgement and verdict.

It is not clear exactly when a final decision will be handed down and even after that time, the appeals process could drag the saga out even further.

Folau, Wallabies head coach Michael Cheika and Castle all gave evidence on the opening day of the hearing on Saturday before it was confirmed that the hearing would extend into Sunday.

The process isn’t likely to be cleanly finalised even when a verdict is made public, with both sides having options for appeals.