'This is bigger than Israel Folau': Rugby Australia chair opens fire

In an interview with the Herald on Friday after settlement negotiations broke down between Rugby Australia and the footballer, paving the way for Folau to lodge an unlawful termination claim in the Federal Court, RA chairman Cameron Clyne opened fire on the sacked Wallaby.

Mr Clyne said the prospect of a drawn out court battle was a "painful" one for Australian rugby, but the alternative was worse if RA had not acted against Folau's Instagram post in April warning homosexuals, among other groups, were destined for hell.

"Which would be that we'd have no sponsors at all because no sponsor has indicated they would be willing to be associated with social media posts of that sort and that includes government, because we've also heard from them," he said.

"We would also potentially be in litigation with employees who are gay and who would say we're not providing a work place that is safe or respectful."

RA receives federal and state funding across different levels of the game.

Folau appeared on Alan Jones's Sky News show on Thursday night and claimed, in comments strongly refuted by RA, that he had been offered money to take down the offending Instagram post.

Mr Clyne said he still hoped to avoid a protracted legal battle.

"We've been open to [a mediated solution] from the get go but there's obviously two different perspectives on that," he said, referring to Folau rejecting RA's previous overtures.

"We are looking at it from the good of the game as a whole. No one is suggesting this is helpful but I would go back to Israel Folau's comments from last year when he said if it was hurting the game he'd walk away for the good of the game.

"Since this issue has emerged I've asked those who've said we should have taken a different response to suggest what that alternative was and so far no one has been able to do that.

"But to those who are saying you should bankrupt the game and allow religious freedom, well we do allow religious freedom but what we don't allow is disparagement and that's clear under [Folau's] contract."

In response to the former Wallaby's demands for an apology and an admission he had been sacked because of his religion, Mr Clyne strongly defended RA's position.

"I'm not sure exactly what we're apologising for, I don't quite understand that request," he said.

"We've provided a player with opportunities and asked him to adhere to a contract and a generous one at that. Israel was not sacked for his religion, he was sacked for a breach of his contract."

Mr Clyne criticised Folau's camp for "blatant misrepresentation" of the facts.

"What is frustrating is that as the governing body we have a long term obligation to protect the integrity of the game, which means we have to play by the rules," he said.

"We've got a lot of people misrepresenting facts, or deliberately ignoring them, you've got soft ball PR interviews with blatant misrepresentations, but that's not the game we can play.

"We've never given up on mediation, we've made many attempts, but we've also got to remember that this is bigger than Israel Folau, we have a duty to every other professional and community player in the game. We can't accept a scenario where contracts become arbitrary."

Folau, a dual international and professional footballer across all three of Australia's winter codes, had his four-year, $4 million contract torn up last month over his Instagram post.

It was his second social media comment in a year saying gay people are destined for hell, after an April 2018 comment on Instagram over which he was warned but escaped sanction.

"There was an initial breach last year, we went through a process of discussing that breach and outlining Israel's obligations under his contract," Mr Clyne said.

"We had an independent tribunal, which went through 22 hours of evidence and thousands of pages of documentation, that indicated our decision was correct, that the player was given the opportunity to understand what his responsibilities under the contract was."

Folau, RA and the NSW Rugby Union all expressed deep disappointment that conciliation failed. The FWC is expected to issue a certificate stating as much within the next week or so, triggering the formal end of the process and allowing Folau to take his unlawful termination claim to the Federal Court.

"There is nothing good about the place we're in but the scenario in which we wave that breach through would be far worse. I would also say that we didn't bring this situation on, we didn't press send on this [post]," Mr Clyne said.

RA has come in for criticism from some corners that it acted too quickly and at the behest of major sponsor Qantas to try to sack Folau.

Mr Clyne rubbished those claims as "offensive".

"That's simply wrong. Sponsors have a right to associate themselves with a game they feel best represents their values, but it is absolute nonsense to suggest it was done at the behest of a sponsor," he said.

"Having said that I haven't had any sponsor come forward and say they were happy with the post or happy to be associated with it. But it's offensive to suggest we get our moral compass from someone else."

Folau has the backing of the Australian Christian Lobby, which raised more than $2 million to help fund his legal case. He has also received the public backing of broadcaster Alan Jones, who has characterised the saga as a battle for the "freedom of all Australians".