Giteau deal opens 'can of worms'

Matt Giteau. Mark Nolan / Getty Images

Matt Giteau's massive private deal to switch teams hints at New Zealand provincial strategies to keep their senior players and beat the salary cap.

The Brumbies have lost Giteau to the Force in an arrangement reputed to be worth A$1.5 ($1.76) million a year, with private backers in Perth matching the A$250,000 Force contract and A$500,000 Giteau gets from the Australian Rugby Union.

Agents the Herald spoke to yesterday confirmed that unions were eyeing similar commercial tactics to circumvent the $2 million salary cap for this year's revamped provincial competition.

"You would be surprised how widely this sort of thing is being considered," said one. "Firms will pay to use players' images for advertising or other commercial activities and this Giteau case has opened up a real can of worms."

The most high-profile case in New Zealand involved Carlos Spencer when a private deal with businessman Balu Khan allowed him to stay longer with Auckland and fend away overseas offers.

Deputy chief executive Steve Tew said the NZRFU paid Super 14 players and would not condone top-up franchise payments.

"We have not taken too much notice of events because if players are paid by their provinces for rugby services then we would count that under the salary cap.

"But if they are paid for other genuine services outside rugby then we would have to investigate."

Giteau's confirmed departure has created a deal of frustration and tension in Australia with the epicentre in Canberra involving Brumbies regular inside backs Giteau and Stephen Larkham.

Neither played in Saturday's rugged 21-16 victory against the Hurricanes but they made a serious impact off the field.

Giteau revealed he had spoken, briefly, to many people asking their opinion about his three-year offer from the Force.

Larkham offered his teammate best wishes but laced his farewell with some acidic observations as he wondered why Giteau had not listened to all the advice.

'I'd like to think that in years to come, he might come back and actually give something back to the community that has given him so much."

The Force have ruffled Australian and Super 14 officialdom this season and in the latest round nearly caused the biggest boilover since the Super series started in 1996.

The winless Force drew 23-all with the all-conquering Crusaders and were denied a famous win only by the video referee. The stalemate inspired a range of theories from frivolous to serious, from bookmakers through a pact between old coaching mates John Mitchell and Robbie Deans to a lack of preparation from the visitors.

Around that hubbub swirled conjecture about Giteau's signing which was confirmed officially yesterday. The financial arrangement provoked displeasure among the rival Australian franchises.

The Force and Mitchell had created previous offence when they revealed how they wanted some of their squad playing in the NPC rather than club competitions in the eastern states of Australia.

Meanwhile, it was a poor weekend for New Zealand sides with the Chiefs the only one to take a victory, which kept them alive in the scramble to haul in the leading quartet.

The Brumbies kept in front of the chasing pack with their win against the Hurricanes.

The Chiefs urged the Hurricanes on, as a victory for them would have left the Brumbies much more vulnerable to the chasers.

That Chiefs cheering has evaporated as the Hurricanes host the Chiefs this Saturday.