Rugby Australia placed unreasonable expectations on Kerevi Cooper McLennan

Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan has moved to defuse tension with Samu Kerevi, Quade Cooper and Sean McMahon by conceding it was ‘unreasonable’ to expect the trio would ignore their commitments to Japanese clubs, particularly after they’d spent years out of contention for the Wallabies.

The dust has settled on a calamitous week for the Wallabies, which saw Kerevi, Cooper and McMahon all elect to remain in Japan to rest and begin preseason with their clubs, rather than link up with Dave Rennie’s squad in the UK.

The Wallabies will be without Quade Cooper and Samu Kerevi against Scotland.Credit:Getty

RA chief executive Andy Marinos expressed his displeasure about receiving the news at the 11th-hour, saying he would have liked more honesty from the players after initially indicating they would tour.

The blame game continued on Friday, when Cooper’s manager Khoder Nasser pointed the finger at RA director of rugby Scott Johnson for the handling of the matter, and Kerevi said on social media he’d be left feeling ‘angry, sad, confused, betrayed’.

Given the influential performances of Kerevi and Cooper during the Rugby Championship, the friction is hardly ideal for Rennie and his desire to have the Japanese-based crew available next season. But McLennan struck a conciliatory tone on Sunday and said the governing body will ‘learn’ from the events of the last week.

“It’s unfortunate, but I think in matters like this the truth is always somewhere in between,” he told the Herald.

“I wholeheartedly believe that all parties want to do the right thing.

“Let’s not forget that Quade and Samu were in the Wallabies wilderness until they made a miraculous comeback during The Rugby Championship.

“It’s unreasonable to expect they would make a 180-degree turnaround from their existing commitments.

“Dave (Rennie) had the vision and guts to give them a break, which has paid off handsomely, and instead of saying who said what to whom, I think we should all be delighted with the progress the team has made.”

RA board member Phil Waugh on Friday told the Herald the messy situation would not change the way the Wallabies assess selection of overseas-based players in 2022 and beyond, and that view was endorsed by McLennan.

Quade Cooper, Samu Kerevi and Sean McMahon are all returning to their Japanese clubs and missing the Wallabies’ spring tour.Credit:Getty, Getty, Supplied

“The Giteau Law, as it was, doesn’t work,” McLennan said.

“And the rugby committee have made some intelligent recommendations to give us this momentum. I want to thank Samu, Quade and Sean for their efforts, and we will all learn from this.

“They haven’t burnt bridges with me.”

RA may be looking to adapt eligibility policies to select more players based abroad but that doesn’t mean McLennan will stop trying to lure high calibre players home.

“The desire to have our overseas players back in our Super Rugby competition is real,” McLennan said.

“It’s a strategic priority, and we need to rebuild our stocks.”

The RA chair also conceded the high-performance team must work closer with some the game’s player managers.

“RA, the high-performance team, the agents and players all need more engagement.

“The agents are part of the rugby ecosystem, like a lot of industries, and we have to get better with working with them.

“Given the choice of playing for a Japanese club or for Australia at Twickenham, I’m in no doubt of what their preference would be.

“Let’s not lose sight of the great work Dave has delivered and the expectation he works under. There are now spots available for other young guys to claim.”

Watch every match of the Wallabies, All Blacks & Springboks Spring Tours on the home of rugby, Stan Sport. Wales v New Zealand streaming ad-free, live and on-demand this Sunday from 3.05am AEDT.

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