Rugby Australia hits back at Israel Folau

Rugby Australia (RA) has fired back at former Wallabies star Israel Folau for disrupting a must-win match for his ex-Waratahs team-mates after a letter written by the sacked player blaming the RA board for media leaks was made public.

Continuing the endless saga, Folau’s name was at the bottom of a letter sent to Rugby Australia directors on Saturday, in which he re-iterated his objection to being terminated for repeated homophobic social media posts.

After Folau received a warning in 2018 for saying gays will go to hell, the ex-Waratah posted the same thing in April this year and an independent Code of Conduct tribunal found him guilty of a high-level breach, and recommended contract termination.

Folau has since launched legal proceedings with the Fair Work Commission against Rugby Australia and New South Wales Rugby for breach of contract, and will reportedly pursue millions of dollars in damages.

In his letter, Folau alleged Rugby Australia were the source of leaked information about his Code of Conduct hearing, which appeared in a series of articles in the Daily Telegraph.

Rugby Australia issued a reply on Saturday rejecting Folau’s claims, and said the “media campaign” being run by Folau’s camp is affecting rugby at all levels – including overshadowing the Waratahs-Brumbies clash in Sydney on Saturday which the Brumbies won 35-24.

“While we accept that a PR firm has been engaged to coordinate a media campaign to promote the legal action taken against Rugby Australia, we are disappointed that this campaign is impacting on the work done by the thousands of volunteers who are delivering great experiences for the Rugby community and also that it has taken the focus away from a crucial Australian Super Rugby derby, being played by Israel’s former team tonight,” a Rugby Australia statement said.

“Rugby Australia has acted with complete professionalism and integrity at all times through the process in which Mr Folau was found by an independent three-member tribunal panel to have made multiple, serious breaches of the Professional Players Code of Conduct.

“While we will continue to respond to any legal action as required and will continue to defend the values that underpin our game and the work done by the hard working volunteers, we will not engage in a running media commentary.”