Foley gets first 'flexible' contract for Australia
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia flyhalf Bernard Foley has been handed the nation's first 'flexible' playing contract which allows him to continue with the Wallabies but also play lucrative stints overseas.
Australia has long demanded players put in a full season of domestic rugby to earn the right to be selected for the national team, but has battled to stem the flow of players to richer foreign competitions.
Amid fears the player drain will leave the Wallabies uncompetitive in world rugby, Foley has been given a blessing to play in Japan during his three-year contract extension with Super Rugby champions New South Wales Waratahs and the national Wallabies side.
"Flexible contracting is taken into consideration for exceptional circumstances, and I am confident that he will put his own well-being at the front of his priorities and thinking," Waratahs and Wallabies coach Michael Cheika said in a statement.
"Bernard is a playmaker who is still yet to reach his full potential and we need our best players eligible for Australia -- now and in the future."
The Australian Rugby Union has previously allowed a handful of players to represent the Wallabies without playing full seasons of Super Rugby.
Flanker George Smith came back from Japan to play for the Canberra-based ACT Brumbies on a short-term Super Rugby deal in 2013 and he subsequently represented Australia during the British and Irish Lions tour that year.
But the ARU has been reticent to include provisions in contracts that allow players to seek big-money deals overseas that might curtail their playing time in domestic rugby.
"I have an incredibly strong desire to continue representing Australia and the Waratahs, and this deal allows me to do that for at least another three years," Foley said.
"I'd like to thank Australian Rugby and the Waratahs for understanding my desire to experience a new culture and Rugby environment in Japan, while continuing to provide me an opportunity for represent my state and country."
Foley's deal retains the 25-year-old in Australian rugby until the end of 2018, while allowing him to spend two seasons in Japan.
New Zealand's rugby union has also maintained a requirement that All Blacks hopefuls must play full domestic seasons but has allowed a handful of top senior players, including captain Richie McCaw and flyhalf Dan Carter, to take six-month "sabbaticals" to keep them fresh for international duty.
Both rugby nations are bracing for an exodus of players after the World Cup, with local contracts often unable to compete with those offered by richer Japanese and European clubs.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
