Rugby Australia has fired back at Israel Folau for disrupting a must-win match for his ex-Waratahs teammates after a letter written by the sacked Wallaby blaming the Rugby AU board for media leaks was made public.
Continuing the endless saga, Folau's name was at the bottom of a letter sent to Rugby Australia directors on Saturday, in which he re-iterated his objection to being terminated for repeated homophobic social media posts.
After Folau received a warning for saying gays will go to hell in 2018, the ex-Waratah posted the same thing in April this year and an independent Code of Conduct tribunal found Folau guilty of a high-level breach, and recommended contract termination.
Folau has since launched legal proceedings with the Fair Work Commission against Rugby Australia (RA) and NSW Rugby for breach of contract, and will reportedly pursue millions of dollars in damages.
In his letter, Folau alleged Rugby Australia were the source of leaked information about his Code of Conduct hearing, which appeared in a series of articles in the Daily Telegraph.
“This is blatantly unfair. As you know, the tribunal hearing must be closed and private, and Rugby Australia was obliged to keep all information confidential,” Folau wrote.
“I would like to know why Rugby Australia has not managed to maintain the integrity of its processes and ensure that information was kept private and confidential.”
“For example, I am not ‘sick of rugby’ and whoever told the media that I am is telling lies.
“Another example is the way the media has been told that your expectations were made clear to me by Ms Castle. We all know that is far from the truth.
“It makes me sad that these things have apparently been told to the media by someone at Rugby Australia. If you are not the source, why has no-one come out to set the record straight?”
“I decided not to appeal the panel’s findings because I wasn’t confident you would treat me fairly if I did. This week’s media shows my instincts were right.”
Rugby Australia issued a reply on Saturday night rejecting Folau's claims, and said the "media campaign" being run by Folau's camp is affecting rugby at all levels - including overshadowing the Waratahs-Brumbies clash on Saturday night.
Folau hired corporate PR expert Chris Newman of Civic Reputation prior to his Code of Conduct hearing.
"While we accept that a PR firm has been engaged to coordinate a media campaign to promote the legal action taken against Rugby Australia, we are disappointed that this campaign is impacting on the work done by the thousands of volunteers who are delivering great experiences for the Rugby community and also that it has taken the focus away from a crucial Australian Super Rugby derby, being played by Israel's former team tonight," a Rugby Australia statement said.
"Rugby Australia has acted with complete professionalism and integrity at all times through the process in which Mr Folau was found by an independent three-member tribunal panel to have made multiple, serious breaches of the Professional Players Code of Conduct.
"While we will continue to respond to any legal action as required and will continue to defend the values that underpin our game and the work done by the hard working volunteers, we will not engage in a running media commentary."
