The_Guardian_-_2016-12-29

But then there is Connacht, the Leicester City of rugby union, who under Pat Lam came from nowhere
to win the Pro12. If they did not make the best of starts to this season, they have grown into it and are
well set to qualify for the quarter-finals of the European Champions Cup for the first time. Lam,
missed by his former club Northampton, is off to Bristol, which will not be the last stop on his
coaching jersey. A joint award for two teams who do it their way.
A lack of Christmas spirit
This is the season of giving but when it involves two fingers it is hardly in the Christmas spirit. In the
last week, Johan Goosen has announced his retirement from the game at the age of 24 to pursue
consultative work and Denny Solomona has left Castleford, where he was under contract, and
switched codes to join Sale after saying he had retired.
Reports in France suggest that Goosen made his decision to get out of his contract with Racing 92
early and, to avoid being bogged down by registration problems, move countries and join Gloucester.
Castleford are taking Sale to court over Solomona, as well as the player himself and his agent,
claiming the contract should hold even if he changes sports.
The Rugby Football Union has not opposed Solomona’s move, saying it is a matter for the clubs
involved to resolve as it relates to a player’s employment status in a different sport, but whether it
would have the same view should the South Africa international Goosen sign for Gloucester would
probably depend on what pressure, if any, the French Rugby Federation exerted on it.
Would the RFU have the same hands-off approach should Owen Farrell announce in the weeks of the
opening Six Nations international next February against France that he was retiring and a few hours
later announce he was returning to rugby league? Or Eddie Jones pack it in and then be unveiled in the
other code? Of course not but as rugby league does not have the money to attract a leading union
player, or coach, it knows it is an academic question.
As the governing body, it should be concerned about the integrity of the sport, which has been
compromised by the Solomona affair. When rugby union was amateur, it suffered at the hands of
league, in Wales especially, but players were then free to make the choice unencumbered by
contractual obligations. The Solomona case is different and leaves rugby league clubs operating in a
climate of uncertainty.
There is no history of cooperation between the two codes, hardly surprising, given the draconian
punishment dished out in the amateur era to union players who were contaminated in some way by
league; even talking to a professional club was enough to get some stripped of their amateur status.
It should be different now. The Rugby Football League chief executive, Nigel Wood, said he is
worried about the implications for his game through up by the Solomona case, arguing that the sanctity
of contracts needed to be respected, as would the head of a rugby union should be positions be
reversed.
Sale maintain it is a contractual issue, not a cross-code conflict but having signed a three-year