Better options on table for SA teams, says Roux
SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux says several long-term options that will suit SA Rugby better in 2021 and beyond are on the table when it comes to international competitions for SA teams to compete in.
With SA Rugby looking to find a new home for its four Super Rugby teams, there has been speculation that the underperforming Kings and Cheetahs might be scrummed out of the Guinness PRO14.
Such a move would be to make room for the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers in an enlarged PRO14 tournament.
SA’s search for greener pastures was prompted after New Zealand Rugby revealed plans to cull SA’s teams and Argentina’s Jaguares from Super Rugby in a radical 2021 shake-up.
‘I wouldn’t be doing my job if I did not, along with my executive, to look at plan B or plan C,” Roux said.
“And, to be fair, I’ve been doing [this] for far more than 12 months in terms of having additional options available for SA.
“Those options differ and there is more than one on the table and, given the sensitivity of it, I can’t say what they are.
“I can tell you we are a long way down the road in terms of having different options that will probably suit us better.
“We believe they will help build towards what we believe is our strategic framework and the direction we think we probably need to head towards over the next 10 years.”
“So, we are making plans. “But we obviously can’t announce what those plans are now, because in the end we need to weigh up the options in the Sanzaar environment and all the other options in rugby.
“That is to make the best decisions for SA Rugby going forward, and that will be made by the general council and not myself and not by the executive.
“Those powers reside within the general council as per the constitution.
“We will approach our members and the council once we have everything in place.
“But everything depends on the global calendar to determine where the windows are and where we can participate within that environment.”
Roux has also made it clear that the Kings’ future participation in the Guinness PRO14 and any decision about their future would be taken by SA Rugby’s general council.
“The Kings will have a very big say in who plays internationally and so will the other 12 unions that are part of the general council,” Roux said.
“The executive cannot unilaterally make a decision on the participation of the Cheetahs, Kings, Bulls, Lions Sharks and Stormers.
“That is, by constitution, the decision the general council make. The general council makes basically three decisions every year — who participates in the Currie Cup, who participates in the international competitions and they approve the budget.”
Roux emphasised that any legally binding change to Super Rugby in the long term would need to be a joint decision taken at executive level.
‘“New Zealand have every right to determine their future, but in terms of Sanzaar’s joint venture agreement, there is a very legal agreement in place and you have to act within it.
“If you are in breach of that joint venture agreement, you make yourself liable for legal action from the other parties.
“But we have always dealt with everything in a very constructive fashion at Sanzaar and we are still having discussions as to what 2021 will look like.”