Wallabies stars felt they couldn’t publicly back Israel Folau during homophobic saga

Christian Wallabies players have blasted Rugby Australia, saying they ‘felt muzzled’ and were not allowed to publicly support their teammate Israel Folau before he was sacked for posting homophobic messages to Instagram.

Senior Wallabies Sekope Kepu and Samu Kerevi both supported Folau after his social media posts about homosexuals being condemned to hell when they died.

Folau’s lucrative contract was torn up by Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle before he launched legal action and reached a multi-million dollar settlement in December.  

Kerevi and Kepu wrote affidavits submitted to the Federal Circuit Court of Australia in support of Folau in November, which were later obtained by The Australian. 

Senior Wallabies players Sekope Kepu (right) and Samu Kerevi (left) said they felt ‘muzzled’ by Rugby Australia when they wanted to publicly show support for Israel Folau 

In affidavits submitted to the Federal Circuit Court of Australia both men said they felt they were muzzled by RA and that Folau (pictured with his wife Maria Folau) was being punished for expressing his faith and beliefs 

In the documents both men state they were ‘muzzled’ by Rugby Australia when they felt they were prevented from speaking with the media over the Folau saga. 

‘My perception was that the media was briefed to approach people who would toe the ‘anti-Israel’ line and were discouraged from approaching potential Israel supporters (including Christian players),’ Kepu wrote. 

In protest of the perceived silencing of his support Kepu didn’t attend a Wallabies training camp. 

He wrote that it was a stand against the way ‘management handled Israel’s situation’.

Kepu even claimed he was pulled from a NSW Waratahs media session over fears he might publicly express his views in support of Folau – a claim which has been denied by the Waratahs.  

Meanwhile, Kerevi wrote he felt Folau was being punished for ‘expressing his faith’ and beliefs.

He wrote when he compared it to the way others were treated it was hard to ‘square up’ what had happened to Folau. 

Both players were showing support for Folau after his RA contract was torn up in the wake of the controversial social media post (pictured)

‘At the time I wanted to support Israel publicly. I couldn’t because the players (including me) were told by management not to comment on the issue,’ he wrote.

Fearing a division in the team Kepu said he went to RA chief Raelene Castle and other senior officials to address the issue. 

After speaking with Castle he claims she told him Folau ‘threw me under the bus’ with his controversial ‘Player’s Voice’ article.

In the article Folau wrote about his faith and shared a bible verse condemning homosexuality. 

He said he felt Castle took the follow up Instagram post with the same Bible verse ‘personally’ instead of ‘prioritising the game and the organisation’. 

Castle rejected the claims players were ‘muzzled’ from expressing their views or support for Folau. 

‘A lot of work was done by Rugby Australia and the Super Rugby teams to provide open communication on the issue to all players throughout the matter, and when requested, counsel and advice was provided to individuals,’ Castle said. 

Folau settled with Rugby Australia in December over the termination of his contract before being signed to the Catalans Dragons in the British Super League.   

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Rugby Australia for comment.  

The claims by Kepu and Kerevi were rejected by RA chief Raelene Castle (pictured) who said RA and Super Rugby do a ‘lot of work’ to provide open communication for players