Strange element in Wallabies big name’s new contract

Wallabies big name Len Ikitau has put pen to a contemporary Rugby Australia and Brumbies contract that may stay him to be had for nationwide variety till the 2027 World Cup.

But his new two-year deal will come with a sabbatical this means that he’ll simplest play one season of Super Rugby within the country’s capital.

Ikitau has signed a versatile deal that may permit him to play a season in the United Kingdom in 2026 ahead of returning house for 2027.

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He will play the rest of this 12 months’s Super Rugby season ahead of heading into Wallabies camp.

After the second one Bledisloe Cup fit in Perth in October, Ikitau will head to the United Kingdom for a nine-month stint with Exeter on a deal reportedly price about $770,000. He will nonetheless be to be had for Aussie variety within the Spring Tour.

He will go back to Australia subsequent July for Wallabies tasks, and rejoin the Brumbies for the 2027 Super Rugby season. Ikitau has performed 39 Tests for the Wallabies since his debut in 2021.

It’s now not the primary time Rugby Australia have integrated sabbaticals in contract negotiations. David Pocock and Michael Hooper neglected seasons of Super Rugby in 2017 and 2021 to play in Japan. Current Wallabies Rob Valetini, Angus Bell and Tate McDermott even have choices of their contracts that will let them omit a season with out threatening their Wallabies variety.

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Rugby New Zealand has additionally long past down a equivalent course with a number of All Blacks stars together with Ardie Savea, Beauden Barret and Brodie Rettalick.

“You don’t want to be that one person that goes this season, and then you never hear of them or see them again until they retire,” Ikitau mentioned in keeping with The Sydney Morning Herald.

“I wanted to make sure that I’m putting my hand up and make sure that I’m playing in Australia to hopefully play in that World Cup in 2027.

“I did not wish to take any chance on the subject of enjoying in a foreign country.”

Rugby Australia traditionally doesn’t choose Wallabies representatives from those playing overseas. The sabbaticals are seen as the best of both worlds.

Ikitau said the deal gives his young family a golden opportunity to live abroad, but with the safety net of a guaranteed job on his return.

“I’d love to thank the Brumbies and Rugby Australia for his or her flexibility on this settlement and my circle of relatives and I are taking a look ahead to a novel lifestyles enjoy in the United Kingdom with Exeter,” he said in a release announcing the deal.

“To know we’re going to be coming again house to Canberra and the Brumbies could be very reassuring, particularly with the house rugby global cup round the corner.”

RA high-performance director Peter Horne said the sabbatical would “end up advisable to Len’s endured building”.

“Such is his status within the recreation, Len’s services and products have been in prime call for through golf equipment and leagues around the globe,” he said in a statement.

“But he made transparent from the beginning his want to be a long-term Wallaby and his pleasure to constitute his nation at a house rugby global cup in 2027.”