Israel Folau: new documentary charts rise and fall of rugby star four years on

Israel Folau (pictured in 2019) was considered one of the greatest athletes of his generation but became the nation’s greatest pariah when he went public with hardline religious views. Photograph: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

With four months until the World Cup, the forces of Australian rugby are uniting. An exciting crop of players were taken into camp last month, fresh coaching staff were unveiled this week, there’s a raft of new sponsors in the wings and the code’s leaders are spruiking and recruiting with cash in the bank. Winning teams are built on such foundations.

Four years ago, it was a very different story. Rugby was a hot mess of explosive headlines and warring factions, within the team and the administration. The code had become a public battlefield of ideologies waged on religious, sexual, financial, legal and social fronts.