SA players Yen for Japan
Craig Lewis
WHENHeyneke Meyer took up his post as Springbok coach at the beginning of last year, he would never have thought that Japan would prove to be a force to pose such a serious threat to the success of the national side.
Over the past couple of years, a stint playing in Japan has become an extremely attractive option for leading South African players, with exceptionally lucrative contracts, with less rugby played and at a far lower intensity.
As a result it’s become the destination of choice for many players in the twilight of their career – such as former Springboks Albert van den Berg and Danie Rossouw – but also for current Boks who are keen for a different, less demanding, yet well-paid playing experience.
After the 2011 World Cup, we saw stars such as Fourie du Preez and Jaque Fourie make the move to Japan, with the latter subsequently making himself unavailable to the national side.
At the time, Meyer admitted it was a “sad day for Springbok rugby”, describing Fourie as one of the best ever Bok centres who he believed could have gone on to play 50 more Tests.
And although Fourie has stated his intention to return to South Africa in 2015 to compete for a place in the next World Cup – by then it may be too late.
Meanwhile, last year Du Preez looked in line to return to the Boks, quite possibly as captain, but in the end this didn’t materialise, with the word being that one of the reasons was his own concern that he wouldn’t be up to standard.
Another real issue is that most of the Japanese club contracts prevent their foreign imports from returning to play international rugby, while in contrast, European-based players such as Francois Louw and Ruan Pienaar are still available for Test selection.
At the recent Bok training camp, Meyer perhaps summed it up best when he said: “I always thought it would benefit us, because they (South African players in Japan) would play less rugby and their season is so short they could play for South Africa as well.
“The players there are supposed to be available, but they sign massive contracts and the clubs dictate to them when they can and can’t play. Obviously they want to protect their assets.
“The players are earning good money and they don’t want to lose their contracts – it is a very difficult situation.
“I still believe that guys like Fourie du Preez and Jaque Fourie can play for the Boks, we need that experience at the back and they are still world class. It would have been great to have had them around while getting the youngsters through the system.”
Top Bok Andries Bekker recently announced he will be heading to Japan after this Super Rugby season, where he will join the likes of Du Preez and Fourie, all of whom remain unavailable to the Boks while there.
JP Pietersen is also set to sign a massive contract to play in Japan for the next two years, but will at least still be available for the Boks’s mid- and end-of-year Tests, while he will return to play Super Rugby.
Other Boks in Wynand Olivier, Ryan Kankowski and Peter Grant have also had stints in Japan.
It’s hard to blame players for accepting such attractive offers – particularly between World Cups or when they’re out of the Bok frame – with Fourie reportedly earning R10 million a year, while Pietersen is set to become one of the top five bestpaid players in the world.
It also offers them a break from the rigours of a jampacked South African rugby schedule, with the far less physically demanding Japanese leagues providing the potential for a top Bok player to in fact extend his career.
On the flipside, there is a real danger of players losing form and dropping their conditioning standards while taking part in the lower intensity Japanese competition.
There is no doubt that Japan has become a major player on the rugby market and it’s effect and threat to the South African game needs to be monitored closely.