Our rugby needs an overhaul
A new vision and structures must be implemented to keep rugby growing, says Doug Mundell
ON THE FACE of it, rugby union may appear to be in tiptop shape in this country. The Springboks are second on the world rankings and the Sharks finished in the top three of the overall standings in this year’s Super Rugby competition.
On closer inspection, however, the state of the game is not as healthy as it could or should be.
New Zealand have 146 893 registered rugby players on its books, while South Africa boast 651 146 players. That means that we have four times more rugby players than the Kiwis, and yet the All Blacks are top of the world rankings, and have been for more years than we would care to remember. In addition, the top half of the 2014 Super Rugby standings featured four New Zealand franchises, three from Australia and only one South African outfit, the Sharks.
Even at Under-20 level, South Africa has underperformed the past couple of seasons, with England taking top honours in 2013 and 2014. The Poms pipped the Junior Boks 21-20 in this year’s Junior World Championship Final in New Zealand.
At the lower levels of the game, the situation has been problematic for more than a decade. Although schools rugby seems to be as strong as ever, the club game has been, and still is, in dire straits.
One of the main problems appears to be the lack of schoolboy players coming through at club level. With professional contracts the vogue in the modern era, young players, irrespective of how talented they are, seem apathetic towards playing the game (for a club), unless they are given a juicy junior contract immediately on leaving school.
In the long run, this situation could have calamitous consequences for the future of SA Rugby.
The SA Rugby Union (Saru) has appointed a task group to investigate its commercial model, with a view to introducing wide-ranging changes over the next couple of years.
Factors that create cause for serious concern include the power of the pound sterling, euro and Japanese yen, which is not only luring older Springboks abroad, but also a growing number of young players; decreasing crowd attendances at Super Rugby games; and increasing pressure from the government to transform the game and to give more players of colour opportunities at Super Rugby and Springbok level.
The Saru investigation will reportedly also examine the marketing of the game, how funds are to be allocated among the unions, amateur rugby, development and, very importantly, the contracting of players.
Player contracts have shown a sharp increase over the past year or so, and with the devaluing of the rand it simply isn’t viable for South Africa to try competing with the international markets in a traditional manner any more.
Unions
Saru has been looking at a centralised contracting system, similar to that employed by New Zealand, to ensure they maximise the use of the country’s top players. However, the unions see the players as their assets and resist a centralised system.
Last year, though, the 14 provincial unions asked Saru to increase their financial grants to enable them to keep up with player and other expenditures, and it has become obvious that this modus operandi cannot be sustained indefinitely. Quite frankly, the bar for player salaries has been set artificially high.
I suggest that a top-heavy structure in SA Rugby is to a large extent to blame for the current maladies. To address this situation, I have long advocated a far more pyramidorientated business model for SA Rugby, which would level the playing field again, but also protect the player.
This model can be likened to that of the career path of a chartered accountant (CA) – school, tertiary education, articles, board exam, and then only does one become a CA.
Similarly, the career path of a rugby player should be school, club rugby, semiprofessional and only then a professional rugby player.
Professionalism, unfortunately, has been allowed to filter down to schoolboy level, which is the cancer eating at the ethos of this magnificent game.
No schoolleaving players should be contracted professionally, but instead be required to play two years of club rugby.
The only forms of remuneration should be bursaries to tertiary education institutions, to prepare the player for “life after rugby”.
Only after the two years, during which these players are developed and nurtured in the club rugby arena, and once they have passed two years of their tertiary education or trade, should they be eligible to be drafted into a next, semi- professional tier. At this level, the 14 “amateur” unions compete in the B Section of the Absa Currie Cup on a semiprofessional basis.
At this semi-professional level, the provincial unions should contract a maximum of 25 players, paying them liveable wages in line with that of an articled clerk. As and when needed, the unions would be able to draft extra players from clubs.
After one year in the semi- professional tier and having completed their chosen tertiary qualification, players will become eligible for the next, fully professional tier, which comprises the six entrenched franchises – Blue Bulls, Free State Cheetahs, Kings, Lions, Sharks and Western Province.
These franchises compete in the Currie Cup, as well as Super Rugby.
At this level, too, a maximum of 25 permanent players should be contracted by each franchise, and remunerated along three categories ranging from R1 million-R3m a year.
Trimming the squad numbers allows the franchises to increase the average contract cost, thus helping to curtail the international player drain.
As and when needed, the franchises will be able to draft players from any of the semiprofessional unions. Significantly, only the professionaltier players should be eligible to represent South Africa at the top, international tier. Those players not involved with any of the six franchises should NOT be eligible to be chosen to represent the Springboks.
In addition, no Springbok players should be contracted. They are contracted by their various franchises, at a higher income level than what is the case currently, which will afford them financial security and allow them to represent South Africa purely on a pride and match-fee basis.
In this way, more than 99 percent of the rugby players in the country will remain amateur, playing rugby for the love of the game, while the massive financial burden, which currently weighs down on SA Rugby, will be eased considerably.
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Doug Mundell is the chief executive officer of The Juiced Group, and has been intimately involved in the business of rugby for the past 15 years.