Bring back the 30-Test rule to strengthen the local league
Western Province s resounding win in a bizarre 40minute game at Loftus at the weekend was a special performance that completed a league phase of the Currie Cup, and where the top team no doubt enjoyed almost unprecedented dominance.
Granted, it was only over one round, and perhaps something will happen in the play-off phase that will make an idiot of me. But it is hard to imagine anyone stopping WP, particularly now that they have secured home-ground advantage for both potential knockout fixtures.
The question is: are WP that good, or has the competition become so poor that any halfdecent team could dominate mediocre opponents? It is probably a bit of both.
John Dobson and his men do deserve enormous kudos for the way they have played. The last time a team was that dominant in the Currie Cup was the Golden Lions in 2015 and they kicked on to become SA’s best Super Rugby franchise.
Once they change back into their Stormers clothing, WP have the forward depth to emulate the Lions by taking over as the SA flag bearers in Super Rugby.
But here is the caveat: the culmination of all the work done in building up depth may have to be concertinaed into one year of success, a case of now or never, for WP stand to lose several top players to overseas clubs after the 2019 World Cup.
It’s stating the obvious to say the Currie Cup isn’t what it used to be. The rank-and-file players leave for overseas clubs once they have gained experience, or boost their incomes by playing in Japan at this time of the year. Quality suffers and players barely out of school become key players in their teams before they are ready.
A streamlining of the contracting system, something WP are understood to be set to announce shortly, should make more money available to the elite level and thus make it more attractive for top players to stay.
But it requires more than that. While Saru director of rugby Rassie Erasmus is doing a good job of rebuilding the Bok brand, he is undermining those positives by making it too easy for overseas-based players to play for the Boks.
It was interesting to hear Saracens-based Vincent Koch speak in the build-up to the Wallabies match in Port Elizabeth about how torn he was when, not long after his departure for England, the ruling barring players who had not played 30 tests from playing for the Boks was introduced.
He did not say so in as many words, but he made it apparent that had the 30-test ruling been in effect when he made his decision, he may not have gone to England.
By choosing an overseasbased player who plays a position where SA boasts plenty of depth, Erasmus is sending out the wrong message.
What did Koch’s selection to the Bok match day 23 for the test against the All Blacks say to the man he displaced, Wilco Louw? Or for that matter to another home-based player, Thomas du Toit, who was part of the Springbok squad earlier in the season?
In both cases you wouldn’t blame those players if they decided to look seriously at the next overseas option that comes their way. Why not, if you can have your cake and eat it?
The Sharks’ Akker van der Merwe could ask the same. The man keeping him out, Schalk Brits, is not only overseasbased, but also nearing 40 and semi-retired.
Overall, Erasmus is doing a good job of making the Boks competitive again, but he must be wary of only thinking Boks. SA’s rugby cannot survive if the only time stadium turnstiles click and television viewers switch on is when there is a test match being played.
WP have been the shining exception to the general dross that has been dished up in the Currie Cup, and over the past few seasons the Lions have been the exception to the local mediocrity in Super Rugby.
The Lions will be without key players lost to overseas clubs in 2019, and unless it is made harder for overseasbased players to play for the Boks, the Stormers stand to lose a phalanx of players the year after that. What happens then?
The waning attendances are a sign that fans are voting with their feet and empty stadiums don’t attract television viewers.
RUGBY CANNOT SURVIVE IF THE ONLY TIME STADIUM TURNSTILES CLICK AND TV VIEWERS SWITCH ON IS WHEN A TEST IS PLAYED
40 minutes is all it took for WP to beat the Blue Bulls and qualify of a home Currie Cup semifinal