Matt Giteau is the reigning Top 14 Player of the Year © Getty Images

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The Australian Rugby Union has bowed to the inevitable. Embarrassed by being a paltry sixth in the world rankings, and struggling to be competitive against both Northern and Southern Hemisphere rivals, the ARU chiefs had little option but to loosen the handcuffs and give themselves a better chance of picking their best team by changing their overseas player policy.

The new policy is far from a whole hog change, as it does not include every Australian who has moved offshore, but still it is enough to ensure the Wallabies can boast a collection of the best players who have moved, or are about to go, overseas due to the allure of more attractive contracts.

The best way for the ARU to be profitable once again, and for rugby union to have a prominent stance in the tough Australian football landscape, with four codes fighting for talent and recognition, comes when the Wallabies are winning - and winning consistently. You can try all the marketing mumbo jumbo and promotional spin you like to conceal the cracks, which the ARU went to extreme lengths to do in its annual report this week which in the fine print reported a $6.3 million deficit for 2014. But the real road to success is through Australia again being a superstar on the international rugby arena. Then the crowds will flock, the sponsors will be lured, interest will be revived, and revenue will be boosted.

And the crowds will flock, the sponsors will be lured, interest will be revived, and revenue will be boosted, if the punters believe the Wallabies team is more representative of the most capable talent both here and overseas.

This is the first step.

Those who have put in for the Wallabies have been properly looked after - with the proviso that remain eligible for the Australian team as long as they have played 60 Tests for the Wallabies and held a professional contract with Australian rugby for at least seven years.

As well, players returning to Australia from overseas who make a two-year commitment to a Super Rugby franchise will also be eligible as soon as they return. That should suck a few more in.

It will also undoubtedly affect the overseas market for Wallabies. Suddenly stars at the end of their careers may not be so alluring for cashed-up foreign clubs because those organisations aren't expected to be enthused about signing players who can still be called back for Test duty on the other side of the world.

Countless overseas clubs will at the moment be reading and re-reading the ARU statement.