Australian Rugby
Could Giteau follow Carter abroad?
Scrum.com
November 28, 2008
Matt Giteau celebrates during Australia Captain's Run at the Stade de France in Paris, France on November 21, 2008.
Could Matt Giteau be following Dan Carter to France? © Getty Images
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Wallabies fly-half Matt Giteau has broken his silence about reports that he could be heading to France.

French paper Midi Olympique has suggested that the star playmaker will be looking to head to France before the next World Cup, and on Saturday Giteau confirmed that Bayonne's billionaire owner Alain Afflelou had made him a four-year offer worth between "9.6 to 9.8" million Australian dollars (approx £4.1-4.2million).

Giteau has given himself the next fortnight to consider the offer and whether he will seek an release from his Australian Rugby Union (ARU) contract.

"I think whenever anyone's presented with that type of offer, you'd sit down and consider your options," he said after Australia's 21-18 loss to Wales in Cardiff.

"I haven't thought about the deal. Because we've been playing Tests, I haven't really thought about it seriously.

"I think over the next week, two weeks, I'll sit down and seriously think about it."

ARU boss John O'Neill has already ruled out the possibility of a short-term European sabbatical for the 26-year-old Western Force back. Giteau's contract in Perth has one more year to run while his ARU deal expires at the end of the 2011 World Cup.

But is Bayonne's offer too good to turn down?

"You can't really put a price on a Wallaby jumper," Giteau said. "I've still got that burning desire to play for the Wallabies, and always will have that desire, I think.

"Whether it's your first game or tonight was my 65th, I think, so I still feel as proud as the first game... in the last."

However Bayonne chairman Francis Salagoity has denied an offer had been made.

"I have not had any contact with this player or his agent," Salagoity said. "What's more, we couldn't afford to offer such an amount of money to any player.

"This whole story is false."

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