Israel Folau (surnommé Izzy), né le à Minto dans la banlieue de Sydney, est un sportif australien de haut niveau, ayant connu une carrière dans trois codes de rugby, le rugby à XIII, le football australien et le rugby à XV, avec divers succès.
Il pratique le rugby à XIII dans sa jeunesse et devient précocement un joueur de premier plan en National Rugby League avec le Storm de Melbourne (avec un titre de NRL en 2007 qui est par la suite retiré) puis les Broncos de Brisbane au poste de centre. Plus jeune international australien de l'histoire du XIII d'Australie, il y est finaliste de la Coupe du monde 2008. Enfin, il remporte à trois reprises le State of Origin avec le Queensland entre 2008 et 2010.
Fort de ce début de carrière prolifique en rugby à XIII, il décide de changer de code de rugby et signe un contrat de quatre ans en football australien avec les Giants de Greater Western Sydney nouvellement créés pour la somme de six millions de dollars australiens. Il y reste deux saisons et ce passage y est un échec, la franchise terminant dernière de l'Australian Football League en 2012.
Il annonce alors un nouveau changement de code de rugby et rejoint les Waratahs durant sept saisons en rugby à XV qui évoluent en Super Rugby. Il remporte ce championnat en 2014. Il y est polyvalent et occupe alternativement le poste d'arrière, de centre ou d'ailier. Il est également sélectionné à 62 reprises en équipe d'Australie et y inscrit 37 essais soit le quatrième meilleur total de l'histoire de la sélection. Il y est finaliste de la Coupe du monde 2015 perdue 17-34 contre la Nouvelle-Zélande et vainqueur du Rugby Championship 2015.
Toutefois, Israel Folau, membre des Assemblées de Dieu qui est un dénomination chrétienne évangélique pentecôtiste, est l'auteur d'une polémique en raison de sa position homophobe en 2018 sur les réseaux sociaux en relayant une vidéo promettant l'enfer aux homosexuels. Bien que non sanctionné lors de cette première sortie médiatique, il est l'auteur en 2019 d'un post sur Instagram citant un passage de la Bible à caractère homophobe entre autres. La fédération australienne de rugby à XV décide alors de sévir et de le licencier. Folau poursuit en justice la fédération et pour éviter tout procès, la fédération présente ses excuses pour le tort causé à Folau et le dédommage à hauteur de trois millions de dollars australiens.
À la suite de cet épisode, Israel Folau n'est pas désirable que cela soit au rugby à XV et au rugby à XIII en Australie et trouve un nouveau projet sportif en revenant au premier code de rugby pratiqué le rugby à XIII en signant dans la franchise française des Dragons Catalans en Super League. Il n'y restera même pas une saison, pour rejoindre ensuite la franchise japonaise de rugby à XV NTT Communications.
Per saperne di più...Il 3 aprile 1989 era una lunedì sotto il segno zodiacale del ♈. Era il 92 ° giorno dell'anno. Il presidente degli Stati Uniti era George Bush.
Se sei nato in questo giorno, hai 36 anni. Il tuo ultimo compleanno era il giovedì 3 aprile 2025, 215 giorni fa. Il tuo prossimo compleanno è il venerdì 3 aprile 2026, in 149 giorni. Hai vissuto per 13.364 giorni, o circa 320.743 ore, o circa 19.244.634 minuti, o circa 1.154.678.040 secondi.
Date: 04 April 1989
LEAD: INTERNATIONAL A3-15 The United States and Egypt agree that Israel should end its ''occupation'' of Arab lands and that an international conference could help bring about peace, Presidents Bush and Mubarak declared. Page A1
Date: 03 April 1989
LEAD: international A2-9 Mikhail Gorbachev arrived in Cuba to an effusive welcome and a bear hug and kisses from one of his prickliest allies, Fidel Castro. Mr. Castro clearly hoped to dispel any impression of friction. Page A1
Date: 04 April 1989
AP
LEAD: The Hartford Courant has announced a plan that will allow some owners of facsimile machines to obtain advance copies of its news and editorials. The newspaper said Sunday that it would distribute a newsletter, known as Faxpaper, at a price of $2,500 a year. Starting Tuesday, anyone who wants the news, but who does not have time to watch the evening news, will be able to receive Faxpaper, The
Date: 04 April 1989
By Michael Oreskes, Special To the New York Times
Michael Oreskes
LEAD: Most Americans tune in to their President through television. Here is what they saw Saturday night on CBS News: Oil, miles of it, spread across Prince William Sound. Then ducks drenched in oil. Then President Bush playing horseshoes.
Date: 03 April 1989
LEAD: The office of a student newspaper that printed anti-Israel editorial was aprayed-painted with graffiti Friday by vandals who broke a double glass window, campus security officials said.
Date: 03 April 1989
By Joe McGinniss
Joe McGinniss
LEAD: I want to set the record straight on Janet Malcolm's recent and wrongheaded two-part New Yorker series. Her ''reflections'' on the reporting technique I used in ''Fatal Vision'' - my book about the convicted murderer Jeffrey MacDonald - and on journalists' ethics in general stray far from reality.
Date: 04 April 1989
Reuters
LEAD: The British Government rejected demands for immediate publication of a secret report into the takeover of Harrods department store by three Egyptian brothers after a bid by Lonrho P.L.C. was blocked by the Government. Lord Young, the Trade and Industry Minister, said premature publication would bar prosecutions for wrongdoing by the Serious Fraud Office.
Date: 04 April 1989
Reuters
LEAD: Mayfair Super Markets Inc. said its chairman and president, Stanley P. Kaufelt, who owns about 46 percent of its class A and class B stock, had offered to acquire its remaining shares for $23.50 each. The company said its board would meet to review the proposal. The stock of Mayfair, which has about 7.8 million class A shares outstanding, soared $6.25 today, to $23.50, in over-the-counter trading, where its gain of 36.2 percent was the largest of the day.
Date: 04 April 1989
Special to the New York Times
LEAD: Illinois Tool Works Inc. completed its acquisition of the Ransburg Corporation, an Indianapolis-based maker of automation equipment, for nearly $171 million. Illinois Tool paid $21 a share in cash for each Ransburg share; 94 percent of the 8.2 million shares were purchased by today. Illinois Tool's original bid of $20 a share in January was sweetened to $21 a share to match an offer from Eagle Industries, a Chicago-based unit of Great American Management and Investment Inc.
Date: 04 April 1989
Special to the New York Times
LEAD: Mesa Limited Partnership, a leading natural gas and oil producer, said it would sell $200 million to $300 million in properties this year to reduce debt. The partnership's debt rose to $1.57 billion last Dec. 31, from $948 million at the end of 1987, after Mesa spent $715 million to acquire several properties from Tenneco Inc.