How the French will be paying to develop the next generation of Wallabies

Young Australian prop Lehopa Leota looks like he was built out of Lego blocks by someone trying to construct the perfect prop.

Even before the Herald broke the news that the Junior Wallabies plan to pick the France-based Leota, pictures of the 130kg unit on social media caught the eye.

He looks like a baby Ben Tameifuna, the New Zealander, who has also played for Tonga, and who just won another Champions Cup with Bordeaux.

Leota’s calves are about the same size as his chest. No wonder Racing 92 wanted him. It’s probably no coincidence that Tameifuna played more than 100 times for the Paris club.

If Rugby Australia picks Leota in its under-20s team for the Junior World Championship in Georgia in June and July, it will signify a change in eligibility policy that was no doubt taken seriously.

But the market has been so distorted recently by French raids on young Australians of Pasifika heritage that RA could not afford to stand still.

In fact, while the selection of Leota and fellow France-based prop Hayden Lavercombe could be explained as a way to strengthen the Junior Wallabies’ set-piece, it looks like another chess move in the niggle between Australian rugby and the French that has been building for years.

French flanker Anthony Jelonch’s play-acting to get Marika Koroibete sent off in Brisbane in 2021, the dispute over the Wallabies’ fee for a pre-Rugby World Cup Test against France and, lately, the French clubs’ raids on young Australian players: they all impact the relationship, from merely annoyance (Jelonch) to a fundamental threat to the game in Australia (the raids).

RA chairman Daniel Herbert has not been afraid to speak out against the French.

By picking Leota and Lavercombe, RA is effectively saying they intend to eventually pick these youngsters for the Wallabies, while the French cover the costs of their development.

There is a complication: the Junior Wallabies are not the designated “capture” team for Wallabies eligibility; that role has been transferred to the Australia A outfit.

So, if Leota and Lavercombe are selected for the under-20s team, it doesn’t lock them into the Wallabies and prevent them from eventually representing France, like Emmanuel Meafou.

That’s the risk RA is taking, although it is probably one worth pursuing if selecting Leota and Lavercombe is part of a courtship ultimately designed to get them back to Australia.

If that’s the case, the outcome is the same for RA regardless of players such as Leota, Lavercombe and talented young flanker Heinz Lemoto being “captured” by the Junior Wallabies or not: they a