Israel folau

Monday

Toby Young

Ganging up on Israel

This article is in The Spectator’s March 2020 US edition. Subscribe here. At the end of January, the owner of Hull Kingston Rovers — an English rugby club that plays in the multinational Super League — wrote to the Catalans Dragons, a French club in the same competition. He explained that he would sue for damages if Hull experienced any financial loss as a result of the Dragons’ decision to sign the Australian player Israel Folau: ‘For example, if a title sponsor withdraws, or external investment is not secured, or quantifiable reputational damage is caused to the brand of Super League and its members.’ According to one source, ‘nearly all’ the Super League clubs felt the same way.

israel folau

Friday

Laurence Wilkinson

Hasn’t Israel Folau been punished enough?

From our UK edition

When Israel Folau settled his multi-million dollar grievance with Rugby Australia after he was sacked over a social media post that summarised a Bible passage, it looked to be an end to the matter. But now Folau's attempt to move on and play rugby again is under threat. Folau was unquestionably one of the best rugby players in the world at the time of his sacking. He remains a talent that most teams would dream of having. A month after the historic settlement was reached, the Catalan Dragons – a rugby league team based in Perpignan, France – announced they had signed Folau as part of a one-year deal.