Rugby bosses braced for fight over big player cuts
● SA Rugby is braced for robust negotiations, if not revolt, with its players as attempts to reduce the number of professionals in the country intensifies.
The game’s governing body has come to the conclusion it can no longer sustain the number of professional players in the country, which one source suggested was as high as 950.
The source, who did not want to be named, said while SA Rugby might be determined to cull the number of players, inevitably there would be push back from the players’ organisation, MyPlayers.
“I reckon we’ll be looking at about 450 players, but that figure is likely to change because there will be push back from the players. There is no way they will just accept that because it will have to be a negotiated figure.”
SA Rugby’s negotiations with MyPlayers are channelled through the South African Rugby Employers Organisation. The organisation’s representatives are largely made up of the chief executives of the unions. All will need to sing from the same hymn sheet.
“Getting consensus will also be a challenge,” said the source.
“We have very different requirements. I think to make this thing fly we will have to get to a point where the franchises (who play in international competitions) take smaller provinces under their wing for the initial period.”
For the bigger unions and their country cousins to find consensus may in itself be problematic. The small unions have for some time voiced their dissatisfaction with SA Rugby’s disbursements made from its broadcast rights agreement.
“Key to that is coming up with a contracting model by which we will remunerate the rugby players in the country,” said the source. “Once that is in place you can start looking to refine the competition structure. You can’t come up with the competition structure first.”
Bulls chief executive Barend van Graan, who is chairman of the employers’ organisation, confirmed discussions were under way.
“The full implementation of what we are discussing will at earliest probably only happen in 2020.
Players are under contract and you can’t change that overnight. This will be a gradual process.”
MyPlayers could not be reached for comment.