Rugby Australia boss clears the air on Israel Folau case
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Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle fronted the media on Thursday to clear the air on a number of uncertainties concerning the settlement between Rugby Australia and Israel Folau.
Castle shot down reports of Rugby Australia paying Israel Folau $8 million as “wildly inaccurate” and said the apology issued to Folau was related to the stress on the Folau family, not the decision to sack him.
Raelene Castle has responded to reports that the settlement Israel Folau received was in the region of $8 million
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She was not willing to reveal the payout but said the decision to settle with Folau was a commercial decision to give Rugby Australia “cost certainty” and was less than what it would cost to fight Folau in court.
In the press conference, Castle confirmed that Rugby Australia had an insurance policy in place to cover an unspecified amount of the settlement. Castle also defended her decision to re-sign Folau on a $5 million, four-year contract in 2018.
Castle also re-asserted that the decision to sack Folau was the right call before saying "Never say never" when quizzed if Folau could return to Rugby in Australia. Before going on to say "I don't believe he would sign under the current player contract, which means he'd be respectful of the social media rules."
Finally, Castle also cleared the air on her critics and future at Rugby Australia by stating that she would not step down from her role.
