Cautiously optimistic
Ebrahim Rasool says this week is crunch time for WP rugby
● WP Rugby board chair Ebrahim Rasool says it would be tantamount to spin doctoring to suggest all was well in the beleaguered union.
WP’s financial woes and acrimonious boardroom resignations have been well documented and their latest blow was confirmed this week when team and Springbok captain Siya Kolisi jumped ship to the Sharks.
“It would be spin doctoring if I were to tell you that there has been no damage. You can’t read the kind of stuff in the newspapers and not feel that something is wrong,” acknowledged the former politician.
With Kolisi actually paying from his back pocket to secure an early release there are genuine fears in Cape rugby circles that their galaxy of stars will all disappear into distant orbit.
“The coming week is the crunch week,” said Rasool. “I am cautiously optimistic that the objective of retaining the bulk of our Springboks will be met. But you can never predict.
“We are notching up some enormous successes with the existing players who have signed.”
Part of the strategy to allay players’ and coaches’ fears about the team’s future is the board’s strategic plan.
“We have presented to the team and the coaching staff and the sponsors a strong implementable plan called Vision 23. We want to create enough playing and coaching continuity and governance continuity. We are willing to strengthen the board and make the company as independent as possible so that we can achieve those objectives.”
There he made a salient point. For too long the accusation has been levelled against WP that its board does not operate with sufficient independence from the amateur-run union.
“The strongest indication that the clubs are on board is the fact that they have endorsed the budget for Vision 23,” said Rasool.
“By 2023 we would want to win the Currie Cup and be in the play-offs of PRO16 and we would want a great representation in the World Cup squad that goes to France.”
For that to happen WP will need a significant injection of cash. Rasool was rumoured to be courting a potential equity partner in the Middle East. It remains in the realm of rumour.
“The thing that was absent when we first started discussing this was a prospectus with which we will seek to find an equity partner. We don’t have a sense of the value of WP so that's why we don’t have a sense of what 51% is. If you don't have that, you are
We are notching up successes with the existing players Ebrahim Rasool
WP Rugby board chair
whistling in the wind.”
He said they will soon be appointing someone who will complete a prospectus. “We will then convene an investment conference for WP Rugby or speak to someone we feel has deep enough pockets with great enough love for rugby.”
All the while WP are preparing to leave Newlands. Critics say their move to Cape Town Stadium on the western seaboard is fitting as it provides them with a view of the setting sun.