Israel Folau will not feature against British & Irish Lions, says Rugby Australia
By
SABC Sport
3rd April 2025
Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh ruled former Wallabies star Israel Folau ineligible to play against the British & Irish Lions later this year.
Folau took to social media to say he is "very disappointed" after being ruled out of playing against the famous touring team and revealed he was informed Waugh was "open to the idea" which led to him expressing his desire to be selected for the combined Australia-New Zealand XV.
The 35-year-old last played for the Wallabies in 2018 and is currently plying his trade with Japan Rugby League One outfit Urayasu D-Rocks.
He also revealed that he is unhappy at being pushed back into the media spotlight and emphasised that he wouldn't have done so if he did not believe RA supported his return.
Folau made 73 Test appearances for Australia but was sacked by RA in 2019 for a "high-level" breach of their code of conduct following a stream of social media posts that were homophobic.
At the time, Folau's contract was worth AUS$ 5 million, and he eventually received a multimillion-dollar settlement from RA but has not played in Australia again.
He then represented Tonga in two Tests in 2022 and 2023 after World Rugby altered the eligibility rules for players who had already played for another country.
The combined Australia-New Zealand XV will face the Lions in Adelaide on July 12, and Folau told News Corp "it would be an awesome opportunity" to be involved in that fixture in front of his family in Australia.
But Waugh revealed that Folau would not be able to be part of the combined Australia-New Zealand XV to face the Lions based on eligibility rules.
Waugh also dismissed the possibility of Folau representing the newly announced First Nations and Pasifika side, revealing that only Australian-based Super Rugby players would be considered for selection.
"We're also not pursuing it," he told reporters at the Hong Kong Sevens on Saturday. "The Australia/New Zealand game is eligible for] Australian players and New Zealanders for the AUNZ game.
"For the First Nations, it's players who are in the Australian Super Rugby squads with the caveat that if there's a challenge around depth of team, then we can tap into Moana (Pasifika) and so forth."
"Through the rest of the game, we've been pretty considered around all our decisions and pretty open-minded about all the decisions, so to be fair, it hasn't even been discussed until Israel's quotes."
Folau, who played 73 Tests for the Wallabies between 2013 and 2018, said he would never have indicated that he is keen for the invitational match if he knew he wasn't eligible.
"I just wanted to address a couple of things in regards to a few media articles that have been floating around the past week in relation to me playing in this Anzac v Lions game later this year and how this all came about," Folau said on Instagram.
"I was contacted last week by Jamie Pandaram, who is a journalist from Sydney, and he was in conversations with Phil Waugh, and Phil had told him that he was open to the idea of me being involved in this game if I was interested in that.
"And so Jamie reached out to a good friend of mine - (former Wallaby) Sekope Kepu - and told him the same thing and made the connection between myself and Jamie.
"I did the interview with Jamie last week and told him that I was definitely interested in that opportunity as I think anyone would in my position.
"Being a professional rugby player, these opportunities don't come around too often and so I told him I was very interested. If I was fit and selected, it was a game that I'd love to be a part of.
"But recently Phil has come out and shut that down completely for whatever reason and said that I was not eligible to play this game nor was there any discussions around me being involved in this game as well.
"So, look, I'm very disappointed around those comments, particularly after what I was told from Jamie and the conversations he had with Phil.
"It's disappointing from my point of view, otherwise, I wouldn't have put myself, I guess, in this position. But you know, it is what it is and I just wanted to address that and I wanted to wish Rugby Australia and Phil Waugh all the best and all the success for the remainder of the season."
