Rugby’s battles move to transfers
• Stormers coach keen to keep his stars as rumours swirl White is after talented youngsters Willemse and Pretorius
There may not be much if any rivalry on the playing field during May but that does not mean the competition is going into hiatus. The theatre has just shifted away from the playing field to off the field.
There may not be much if any rivalry on the playing field during May but that does not mean the competition between the provinces and franchises is going into hiatus.
On the contrary, the theatre has just shifted away from the playing field to what could become an intense battle off the field.
For those who get drawn in and enthralled by the behindthe-scenes haggling that goes into the quest for victory in the transfer market, this time of global crisis could also be your time to be entertained.
In the last years of shamateurism and the early years of professionalism the off-season months from November to the end of February were known as the silly season. Those were the months when the newspapers were filled with rumours of player movements and provinces bickered with one another over the “poaching” of their talent resources.
The silly season was then shifted to midyear, when July became the opening of the transfer window, which it was until recently, when presumably to suit the two SA Pro14 franchises, it was brought forward to May 1.
That is just a few weeks away. It was considered all well and good by all parties until Covid-19 intervened and introduced the possibility that some franchises may be unfairly advantaged, or disadvantaged, by the uncertainty that has been wrought by the pandemic.
To be accurate, StormersWestern Province coach John Dobson was not referring to the timing of the transfer window when this week he appealed for fair play and an agreement from all franchises to lay off negotiating with players contracted by rival franchises.
WHITE’S INTEREST
He was just saying that the unions must wait until the transfer window officially opens, something he is understandably concerned about given that his union has sent a letter to the agents representing his players informing them contract negotiations have been suspended due to the Covid-19 crisis.
No-one at the Bulls has confirmed it officially but there seems to be enough fire to go with the smoke around their new director of rugby Jake White’s reported interest in two of the Stormers’ most precociously talented younger players, Damian Willemse and Rikus Pretorius.
Has White spoken to the players’ agents or to the players themselves? Who knows, but it is understandable why Dobson is edgy. He has repeatedly stated, as his predecessor Robbie Fleck did, that Willemse is the future of WP. They have banked a lot on the young flyhalf emerging as a future match winner.
Dobson cannot really take a holier-than-thou attitude for WP’s interest in the Cheetahs’ lock Sintu Manjezi has been fairly common knowledge for a while. Did Dobson put out feelers to Manjezi, or his representatives, outside the contracting window? Again, who knows?
In any other year you could probably follow up by asking who cares, does anyone take the transfer window that seriously? You can’t get away with a direct approach to another province’s player, but there are myriad ways of getting around it.
Only this is not any other year. Apart from the battle over resources that can be gained or lost in the transfer market, there could be another potential battle coming between players and employers over plans to cut salaries as part of the solution to the loss of revenue that all unions and SA Rugby are experiencing due to Covid-19.
SA Rugby stands to lose R27m-R33m a month because of the suspension of play. Details of the rescue plans agreed to at a special meeting held on Friday have not been officially announced but have been leaked to the media and are said to include a reduction in salaries for those players who earn more than R300,000 a year (meaning all Super Rugby players).
An agreement was reached that should professional rugby resume by the beginning of June then the money would be paid back to the players.
PLAYERS MIFFED
But while the players were represented by their union, MyPlayers, at the meeting, some expressed unhappiness about the way they were represented and suggested they had “a gun held against our heads” in the negotiations.
It would be naive for players to think SA Rugby and their unions can experience sustained losses, which would run into about R190m if in the worstcase scenario rugby does not resume this season, without it affecting their wages.
But it does underline the extraordinary times the players, as well as their employers, are living through.
This is one time when the franchises with wealthy backers, and the Bulls have a strong one in Johan Rupert, who might feel more passionate about the Bulls as White is now involved, may have a huge advantage over those that do not.
White’s desire to improve his squad is understandable so we could see this battle and others like it take centre stage during the time the players are not on the field.