As it stands, after the second review of Australia’s overseas eligibility rules, the system still requires a player to establish themselves at Super Rugby and Test level before they can have their cake and eat it too.
“It was tough. Not fun. Not fun at all. It sucks. You can see why it breaks people.”
Matt To’omua on the breakdown of his marriage to Ellyse Perry.
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has just three picks per series, but recently muddied the waters suggesting he would petition to have that increased to four. RA shot down the talk, but there is strong speculation Rennie will be given whoever he wants next year in the lead in to the World Cup.
To’omua, and many others in the game, believe the current arrangement has put the Wallabies in a sort of no-man’s land.
“If we are going to be running this trickle-down economics thing, let’s not restrain the Wallabies in any way, shape or form, because that’s just silly,” he says. “If we need Rory [Arnold], we need Rory. If we need Will [Skelton], we need Will. Samu [Kerevi] – why is he not playing all the time? We can’t just have them for a two-game tour. We have to have these guys.”
Worse, two changes in seven years and the likelihood of more on the horizon, is risking the organisation’s credibility, To’omua believes.
Matt To’omua and the Wallabies celebrate victory over France in Brisbane in 2021, To’omua’s second last Test for Australia.Credit:Getty
“As a player, it’s quite frustrating,” he says. “I signed a contract last year on the basis that the Giteau Law was in play, so you do the depth chart, you look at it and think, ‘I’ll probably be around here’. And then the rules get changed.
“It’s only a rule until two blokes decide it’s not a rule, so I feel like it’s dying a bit of a slow death at the moment.
“Let it go, let the costs go, some other young kid is going to shine, be the face of the game, and we’ll still have our international stars playing for Australia, and we’re not crippling ourselves by not having all of them.”
In a reminder of how fast professional sport moves, it was less than a year ago that To’omua pulled on a Wallabies jersey. He started at No.12 outside Noah Lolesio in the first Bledisloe Cup Test, but injury ended his international season prematurely.
Matt To’omua in action for the Rebels this year in what will likely be his final season in Australia.Credit:Getty
A poor season with Melbourne followed – including news he was being stripped of the captaincy in favor of Michael Wells – and it was topped off with the dreaded call from Rennie to let him know he hadn’t made the cut for the England series.
“It was humbling in all sorts of ways,” To’omua says of his final year.
“I finished last season with a head knock, that kept me out for a fair while. I came back and I wanted to be part of the [Rebels] leadership group, so that wasn’t a decision made on my part. I was pretty disappointed by that.
“It was a few blows. I was playing No.12 [with Melbourne]and I’d always expressed my desire to play No.10, then I got put back in 10, but then the Wallabies said they see me as a No.12 and me playing No.10 is not really helping my chances of playing at No.12.
“Towards the end, I just had to come to the position that I wanted to play rugby and a position that I wanted to play, and if it’s not good enough for the Wallabies, I’m OK with that. I’ll do my best, I’ll do everything I can. But if that’s not enough, I am actually quite proud of what I’ve done at a Wallaby level and the experiences I’ve had.
“I do really, really like the environment in terms of the coaching set up there. I spoke to Dave Rennie on the phone when he called me to tell me I wasn’t in. I said, ‘Mate, I genuinely wish I was a few years younger, playing a little bit better’.
“For me, it’s just the natural cycle of being an athlete. You’re good for a bit and, hopefully, you take advantage of that little bit, and then you become not very good for a bit. I don’t think I’m completely out the other side, but I’m setting myself up for that because it does eventually happen. I want to be pragmatic about that.”
There was also a marriage breakdown thrown in for good measure, although To’omua’s best season with the Rebels, 2020, coincided with the year he and cricketer Ellyse Perry decided to end their four-year marriage. He was Super Rugby AU’s joint top try-scorer with James O’Connor as his personal life crumbled around him.
It was not an amicable split – To’omua says they have not spoken in more than a year – but the 32-year-old wants to keep the details out of the public domain out of respect for his new partner and soon-to- be wife, Naomi Cameron, a forensic psychologist.
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“It was tough,” he says. “Not fun. Not fun at all. It sucks. You can see why it breaks people. I’m very lucky that I’ve found someone now who’s amazing, but at the time, it was brutal.
“I’m very fortunate that we had no children and, of the divorces, it was a good one in the sense of the separation of those things. The one unique thing being it was public. Getting sprayed while I’m goalkicking or getting abused on some social media platform isn’t great, but they’re minor things.”
Onwards and upwards for rugby’s “Pup”, who is now working with host broadcaster Stan Sport. There’s just one final point to make before he leaves.
“It’s super exciting what’s coming up, with two World Cups and a [British and Irish] Lions tour, but there’s a responsibility for whoever’s in charge to make sure they set us up,” he says. “If we don’t benefit from those events you can’t say we didn’t have a chance. In rugby we’ve always had that in our back pocket, against anyone who played league: we could say that we’re the international game and they’re big in western Sydney. We genuinely have a chance now. I hope that we lock in the benefits for the future.”
Watch every match of The Rugby Championship on the Home of Rugby, Stan Sport. Kicks off this weekend with South Africa v All Blacks (Sunday, 12.30am, AEST) and Argentina v Wallabies (Sunday, 4.45am, AEST). All matches streaming ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport.