Rugby Australia has set out its criteria over player eligibility for an historic First Nations & Pasifika XV team, ruling one of the greatest Wallabies' performers out of making a triumphant return to his country of birth while also representing his culture.
Controversial star Israel Folau had requested to play in either one of two of the six British & Irish Lions tour matches in July, but Rugby Australia has rejected his recent appeal on the basis of ineligibility.
The 35-year-old, who has played in the cashed-up Japanese rugby union competition since 2021, was hoping for one final appearance in Australia against the tourists from four British Isles' nations - against whom Folau made his Australian Test debut in 2013.
That night Folau scored both of Australia's only two tries in a 23-21 defeat against the Lions in Brisbane.
The upcoming tour match will combine rugby's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players with others of either Fijian, Samoan and Tongan origin against the top players from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland for the visit to Australia that only happens once every 12 years between tours to Aotearoa/New Zealand and South Africa.
Folau had believed he was eligible for his Tongan ethnicity, while having been born in Sydney.
But Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh explained it was not the case due to Folau's inactivity in Australia, despite Test selectors now being able to pick foreign-based Australians for Wallabies matches.
"It's eligibility, essentially," Waugh told the media at the Hong Kong Sevens over the weekend.
"We're also not pursuing it."
Waugh said with a possible exception of including players from the two Pacific-origin Super Rugby teams, most of the First Nations & Pasifika lineup will largely come from the four domestic Super Rugby clubs in Australia.
Folau had also put up his hand to be named in an ANZACs Invitational XV match for players that were either Australian or a New Zealand nationals that is dubbed an 'unofficial' fourth Test on July 12 in Adelaide, alongside with Australia's three-Test match series against the touring Lions.
That was also rejected under the agreed playing terms.
"With the Australia-New Zealand game, it's eligible for Australian players and New Zealanders," Waugh said.
"For the First Nations and Pasifika game, it's players who are in the Australian Super Rugby squads, with the caveat that if there's a challenge around the depth of (the) team, then we can tap into the Moana Pasifika and Drua team.
"So yeah, it's sort of pretty simple.
"We've got a long-form agreement with the British & Irish Lions, which stipulates that the rules around eligibility for the teams that we're selecting, and in the spirit of good partnership, we'll adhere to those rules."
Rugby Australia sacked Folau, a devout Mormon, in 2019 against posting religiously-motivated social media posts that discriminated against Australia's gay community.
Folau had previously been told not to post material of that nature and consequently never played for Australia again, leading him to take his employer to court and walk away with a confidential settlement believed to be worth millions of dollars.
The cross-code player had a stellar start to his professional career with NRL clubs Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Bronco, and spent two years on the Greater Western Sydney Giants' playing list in 2011 and 2012 before quitting halfway through the four-year deal that was estimated to be worth $6 million – the highest-ever recorded AFL contract that was intended to stimulate interest in the newest AFL club – in a pursuit of a career in a third code.
The inaugural First Nations & Pasifika match of its kind has replaced a planned fixture of the Melbourne Rebels on July 22 for the Lions tour before the financially-stricken club were expelled at the end of last year from Super Rugby.
The First Nations' list of Super Rugby players that are eligible include current Wallabies outside back Dylan Pietsch and former Wallabies utility Kurtley Beale, along with past Wallabies tourist Andy Muirhead, Brumbies half Harrison Goddard, Waratahs winger Triston Reilly, Reds lock Connor Vest and Reds centre Issac Vest.
There is a strong call for Australian Sevens Olympian Maurice Longbottom to be drafted into the final squad despite touring the world circuit nearly half the year and not playing Super Rugby.
Longbottom, who will finish his Sevens' national commitments on May 4 in the Los Angeles tournament, is set to return to Sydney Premier Rugby for Randwick for the rest of the 2025 season.
