Hooker Tatafu Polota Nau and No.8 Wycliff Palu have re-signed with Australian rugby and the NSW Waratahs.
The powerful 30-year-old Palu on Monday turned his back on offshore opportunities in his bid to feature at a third World Cup when the Wallabies head to England in 2015.
In recommitting, Palu also signed on for an additional two years with the Waratahs in Super Rugby, allowing him to continue a quest for a maiden title after appearing in the NSW sides which lost the 2005 and 2008 finals to the Robbie Deans-coached Crusaders.
“Playing for the Wallabies and the Waratahs has meant a lot to me. Neither were opportunities that I really wanted to give up, but I was also mindful of the fact through the negotiation process that I can’t go on forever.
“I’ve got two children now, so maximising my opportunities to secure their future and that of myself and my partner was the main priority, but the Australian Rugby Union and the Waratahs were very understanding of that, and we all got the outcome we were looking for,” Palu said.
Four games away from becoming just the second Australian No.8 to play 50 Tests, Palu ran out for the Wallabies for the first time against England in 2006, a little over a year after he had made his Super Rugby debut with the Waratahs.
Seven years later, he sits 11 Test appearances behind Australia’s most capped No.8, Toutai Kefu (57), and could surpass the Queenslander this year, with 13 Tests on the Wallabies’ agenda.
Polota Nau on Monday re-signed with Australian rugby and the Waratahs for another three years.
The updated agreement takes the 27-year-old hooker through until the end of 2016.
One of only seven players to have featured in more than 100 games for the Waratahs, Polota Nau is also closing in on 50 appearances for the Wallabies with 44 Test caps to his name.
He is sidelined with a broken arm for at least eight weeks, meaning which he will miss the British and Irish Lions tour.
Polota Nau hopes to return for the Waratahs before the end of the Super Rugby season, when he would be available for the second edition of the Rugby Championship.
“Unfinished business,” Polata Nau said, when asked of his motives for rejecting overseas bids.
“I’d like to earn the right to win a few trophies – the Bledisloe Cup in particular. New Zealand has had that for far too long and I’d like to be around to help Australia get it back.”
Polota Nau acknowledged another World Cup was also on his mind, as was a Super Rugby title with the Waratahs.
“They are all things you can’t achieve if you are not in Australia,” he said.
