Bulls: Folau is 'not worth the risk'
NEWS: The Super Rugby franchise the Bulls have been approached by former Wallabies back Israel Folau’s camp.
According to the Netwerk24, Folau’s representatives contacted the Blue Bulls Company CEO Alfons Meyer to offer the services of the utility back to the three-time Super Rugby champions.
Folau recently settled his long-term feud with Rugby Australia after his million-dollar contract was terminated for controversial comments in April.
The 30-year-old claimed that he was unlawfully sacked because of his religion, while Rugby Australia argued the termination for high-level misconduct was purely contractual.
He subsequently began legal action to be reinstated and be paid AUS$14 million in damages.
The two parties avoided a costly court battle by reaching a mediated agreement on Wednesday.
Under the settlement, both sides apologised for “any hurt or harm” caused, with Folau taking to YouTube to claim he had been “vindicated”.
*Also read: Folau ‘vindicated’ after sacking settlement
Meyer revealed to the newspaper that he was initially quite excited at the prospect of signing the record-breaking Tongan-Australian, but that excitement quickly faded.
He conceded that while the Bulls would love to have a player of the calibre of Folau, his recent history of controversial remarks and behaviour made signing him too great a risk.
“I’m not sure if it is Folau’s lawyer, but a lawyer approached us to hear if we are interested in contracting him,” Meyer told Netwerk24.
“Initially, I was excited but if you look at this matter with a sober mind then it’s simply not worth the risk. He is controversial and you’ll expose yourself by contracting him.”
“It’s a pity because he [Folau] is a very special player,” added Meyer.
“He is probably amongst the top two or three players in the world. If it wasn’t for his comments, we would have given our all to have him in the group.”
Meyer also revealed that the Bulls tried to lure Glasgow Warriors, Scotland and former Stormers centre Huw Jones to Pretoria for their 2020 Super Rugby campaign.
“We are still looking for a centre, who has played at Test level and we wanted to negotiate with Huw [Jones] but he would prefer to go to the Cape,” he said.
Sources: Netwerk24 & The South African
