God bless the Aussies: Australian National Team Refuses to Kneel for BLM

Australia’s national rugby team will not take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after a unanimous vote by the players, insisting they were not interested in making political statements.

The Australian Wallabies face the New Zealand All Blacks next Saturday in a Bledisloe Cup contest in Sydney.

Coach Dave Rennie said the idea of kneeling during the national anthem was discussed by the players and they voted against becoming the first Australian national sporting team to do so.

However Australia will wear a new “First Nation” jersey for the contest, Sky Sports reports.

“The key thing is that this is about honouring our Indigenous people and we want the focus to be on that,” Rennie explained.

“Everyone has got their own opinions around the other situation but we want the focus to be around reflecting on our history and our past. Our focus is around the First Nations people and the Indigenous jersey; we’re not looking to make a political statement.”

He said the coaching and management group talked with the team leaders, who then met with the rest of the team and it was a “unanimous decision.”

Former Wallaby captain Nick Farr-Jones backed the move.

 “To take the risk of basically splitting the support the Wallabies are starting to earn through their gutsy performances in Wellington and Auckland – just don’t do it guys, it’s too risky,” Farr-Jones said on radio 2GB.

“You run the risk that a few (viewers) would just turn off. They don’t want to see politics in national sport. That’s a real risk. I think it could be divisive.”

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