Rugby Australia have taken aim at French clubs for signing some of their brightest young talent and have duly urged World Rugby to step in.<\/b><\/p>\n
Chairman Daniel Herbert was speaking after the governing body announced its 2024 financial results, revealing a deficit of AUS$36.8m, when he slammed the Top 14 outfits.<\/p>\n
Those teams have much greater fiscal power than Australia<\/a> and New Zealand, and they are able to lure some of the world\u2019s best players to those shores.<\/p>\n While that is not an ideal situation for the trans-Tasman duo, Herbert does not necessarily have an issue with that, with his main complaint centred around signing youngsters to their academies.<\/p>\n French club signs 16-year-old<\/p>\n La Rochelle recently brought in 16-year-old Visesio Kite, while it is understood that highly rated teenager Heinz Lemoto was offered a deal in France.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something that we\u2019re talking to World Rugby<\/a> about, because there\u2019s more than what\u2019s been reported as well that we\u2019re aware of, and our view is that France has the ability to produce its own players,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey don\u2019t need to come and talk to our player agents to try and poach ours at a very young age. So there\u2019s going to be some discussions at World Rugby level around what is actually allowed to happen in that market.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause, you know, [France\u2019s] population of 70 million without the major competition [rugby league] that we have and doesn\u2019t need to go to other markets to try and poach players.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s a live discussion with World Rugby at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s with my agents now\u2019 \u2013 Richie Mo\u2019unga makes stunning British & Irish Lions revelation<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n According to Kite\u2019s father, his son only took up the contract at La Rochelle after not being offered anything by the Queensland Rugby Union, while he also accused RA of \u201cobstructing\u201d the move by \u201crefusing\u201d to provide international clearance in order to complete the deal.<\/p>\n The governing body later released a statement denying this, claiming that they were seeking clarity from World Rugby over the legal and ethical implications of such a move.<\/p>\n Rugby Australia have evidently taken this a step further and believe that the wider issue of \u2018poaching\u2019 young talent from abroad should be looked into.<\/p>\n \u2018Most other countries don\u2019t do it\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I just think there has to be\u2026 a coming together on what is allowed and what isn\u2019t allowed,\u201d Herbert added.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the moment, it\u2019s the French clubs, it\u2019s not the French Federation, it\u2019s the French clubs. They\u2019re working directly with player agents here, and we don\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n \u201cMost other countries don\u2019t do it, and so it\u2019s something that we\u2019ll take up with World Rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n Australia have been stung in the past with Emmanuel Meafou signing for Toulouse after not being offered a deal in his home country.<\/p>\n Meafou then went on to play for France<\/a> and has become a key part of their squad, helping them to the recent Six Nations title, and there are concerns that Kite, who is 6ft 7in and 23st (147kg), could follow in the same footsteps.<\/p>\n