Players who join rebel R360 comp face Wallabies ban
Darren Walton |
Rugby Australia has slammed the door shut on rogue R360 defectors playing for the Wallabies as the brewing Super League-style war dramatically escalates.
RA joined seven other major unions overnight in announcing it will ban any player who joins the R360 global franchise from international selection.
The rugby unions of New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, England, Scotland, France and Italy have also signed up and warned players considering joining the rebel competition to exercise “extreme caution”.
The R360 league, fronted by 2003 World Cup-winning England centre Mike Tindall, is due to launch in late 2026 amid reports NRL superstars Payne Haas, Ryan Papenhuyzen, Cameron Munster and Zac Lomax are among the big-name targets.
Papenhuyzen is the highest-profile NRL player to have shown interest, while cross-code star Roger Tuivasa-Sheck also confirmed talks with organisers.
The then-off-contract code-hopping sensation Mark Nawaqanitawase is another obvious star in the new league’s sights.
While no Australian rugby union players have been linked to the rebel league, there have been whispers that at least two Wallabies, including one especially high-profile star, have committed to the breakaway movement.
As many as 200 players are believed to have signed pre-contracts worth up to $1.5 million, but none have made their interest public. There are also no details of who is investing into the event.
A hero of Brisbane’s NRL grand final triumph over the Melbourne Storm, Haas is poised to be the competition’s highest-paid NRL player, with his management reportedly telling R360 powerbrokers the powerhouse prop will not entertain offers of anything less than $3 million a season.
While officials aren’t expected to take their case to World Rugby for global sanctioning until June before a mooted October start, R360 threatens to divide the two rugby codes like Super League in 1997 and the sport of golf since the Saudi-backed LIV’s conception three years ago.
As such, RA and most of the world’s other major national bodies have moved to draw a line in the sand with their plans to outlaw players from competing for their country ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
The bans would extend to female players and the Olympic Games.
“As a group of national rugby unions, we are urging extreme caution for players and support staff considering joining the proposed R360 competition,” the unions said in a rare joint statement.
“International rugby and our major competitions remain the financial and cultural engine that sustains every level of the game – from grassroots participation to elite performance.
“Undermining that ecosystem could be enormously harmful to the health of our sport.”
The threat from rugby’s joint forces comes after ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys last week warned there would be “consequences” if players quit an NRL contract for the new concept.
Wales, Argentina, Fiji and Japan are the most notable rugby non-signatories to the statement, along with Women’s World Cup finalists Canada, though the Welsh Rugby Union expressed support for the statement.
The unions say R360 has given them no indication as to how it plans to manage player welfare, how players would fulfil their aspirations of representing their countries, or how the competition would co-exist with the international and domestic calendars.
They also say the R360 model appears designed to generate profits and return them to a very small elite, and those behind the proposed competition have not engaged with all unions to explain their business and operating model.
“Each of the national unions will therefore be advising men’s and women’s players that participation in R360 would make them ineligible for international selection,” the statement concluded.
In response, R360 said it wanted to work collaboratively and would be prepared to release players for national duty.
It added that player welfare was one of the key reasons for creating the series, which it said would greatly reduce player load and capture the attention of a new generation of fans globally.
“It’s not always easy to embrace new opportunities but, as we’ve seen throughout history, it’s essential for any sport to grow,” a statement said.
The league hopes to establish eight men’s teams and four women’s sides who will compete in a condensed season format in F1 grand prix-style events around the world in cities such as London, Cape Town, Dubai, Miami, Boston, Tokyo and Lisbon.
With agencies
AAP
