Wallabies ‘better off without him’
A former Wallaby now working as Rugby Australia’s elite coaching director believes the Wallabies going forward would be stronger without Israel Folau in their side ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
Folau is facing the sack after Rugby Australia said it intends to end his contract in the wake of his latest anti-gay posts on social media, a year after making similar comments.
The controversy erupted after he posted a warning on Wednesday saying that ‘‘Hell waits’’ drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists and idolators unless they repent.
His rugby career looks finished but former Wallabies and Brumbies five-eighth Rod Kafer said his likely absence would benefit Australia’s national side.
‘‘If we just take the Wallabies view, we’ve struggled to find Israel’s best position for the Wallabies,’’ Kafer told Fox Sports.
‘‘He is a player that brings some real unique characteristics. But in international rugby I don’t think he’s been an outstanding player and we compensate around him, we have to pick different players in different positions.
‘‘I think the game has in some ways moved on.’’
Folau made his test debut against the British and Irish Lions in 2013 and has spent most of his 73-test career at fullback, but Kafer feels the former league and AFL star has been exposed in that role at test level and doesn’t work well as a team player.
‘‘This is a guy that has got unbelievable skills, but I don’t necessarily see him as a great team player,’’ Kafer added.
‘‘His work ethic’s not great, he doesn’t work that hard off the ball [and] defensively there are issues. I’m not a massive fan.’’
Kafer accepted the Waratah’s obvious abilities – many consider him the best under the high ball in the world – but said he was too much individual in a team environment.
‘‘There’s always the champion team and the team of champions and there’s no question that this guy is a unique athlete, absolutely, but we’ve also got some really good, young athletes who given the right opportunity to come through may also prove to be pretty good as well.
‘‘The game is never beholden to a single individual. The game of rugby’s bigger than all of its individuals and it moves on and you find different strengths and different things.’’
Former Australian fullback Greg Martin said the Wallabies should give Melbourne Rebels captain Dane Haylett-petty a shot at fullback.
‘‘This will be like a retirement or a major injury,’’ Martin said of Folau’s expected sacking.
‘‘He’s gone, move on to the next one. Dane Haylett-petty is ready to be the Australian fullback and I reckon Israel would have been the right winger again this year [regardless of Folau’s social media posts].’’
Folau’s contract is set to be terminated following his latest controversial posts. Burnley and Southampton took big steps towards avoiding relegation from the English Premier League with crucial wins yesterday, while Cardiff City inched closer to the drop after a third straight loss.
All Whites striker Chris Wood may have secured another season in the top flight for Burnley by scoring both goals in a 2-0 home win over Cardiff, a result that leaves the Welsh club five points from safety in 18th place.
Burnley now look safe on 39 points, 11 ahead of Cardiff, while Southampton boosted their chances of staying up by beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1.
Brighton are still in trouble after being hammered 5-0 at home by Bournemouth.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, Paul Pogba’s calm nerves and David De Gea’s quick reflexes kept Manchester United in the hunt for a top-four finish.
Pogba scored two penalties to give United a 2-1 victory over West Ham United at Old Trafford, the second coming shortly after De Gea had denied West Ham a potential winner by palming away a header from Michail Antonio with a superb onehanded save.
Tottenham Hotspur climbed back into third place by beating already relegated Huddersfield Town 4-0, with Lucas Moura scoring a hat-trick.
Fulham, also relegated with Huddersfield, earned their first win since January by beating Everton 2-0.
With title-chasers Manchester City and Liverpool both playing overnight, the focus switched to the fight to avoid the last relegation spot. That now looks like a two-way fight between Cardiff and Brighton, who meet on Wednesday in a game that could decide which team stays up.
Cardiff manager Neil Warnock once again had reason to feel aggrieved with a refereeing decision as Mike Dean overturned a call by his linesman to award the visitors a penalty for handball early in the second half, with the score still 1-0.
That came two weeks after Cardiff were denied a penalty when leading 1-0 against Chelsea, who then equalised from a clear offside position before scoring a late winner.
‘‘Can I say I’m lost for words?’’ Warnock told the BBC when asked about the overturned penalty.
Brighton had nobody to blame, however, after falling to their heaviest home loss in the Premier League. After Dan Gosling opened the scoring in the first half, Ryan Fraser, David Brooks, Callum Wilson and Junior Stanislas all added goals after the break as the visitors ended a recent slump in style.