There is an often-used phrase, slowly creeping on the borders of cliché, by the South African rugby media to signify the “what now?” question once a Rugby World Cup year passes. “Player exodus” along with the imposed biblical proportions of rugby players’ status in a sport where every second player is referred to willy-nilly as a “star”, is the term most consuming the post-World Cup conversation. The old guard from the 2007 campaign will in the most part retire, and for good reason, leaving it to the men that follow them to carry on the Springbok saga this decade.
John Smit, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha and Fourie du Preez are already confirmed out the picture for the 2012 season. As the 2011 World Cup approaches, who knows who else would have decided to get a taste of European rugby, along with their favourable exchange rate, before the moment passes them by.
There have been several returnees who are back in the national fold having once been a Springbok, taken the chance to play in Europe and then returned to the domestic scene. Jean de Villiers, Butch James, CJ van der Linde, Smit and Matfield have all experienced European rugby but eventually came back to South Africa. Of the current overseas crop still in the selection picture, Ruan Pienaar and Frans Steyn are the most important, considering the large amount of experience both men possess on the international stage, especially Steyn. Steyn was a member of the 2007 winning side where he played at inside centre. De Villiers tore a bicep in South Africa’s opening fixture, a better candidate at fullback than all his South African-based contenders. He is the one player the Springbok set-up might make an exception for as the World Cup approaches.
Of those left behind, one can be sure the likes of Bryan Habana, Jaque Fourie, Heinrich Brussow, Schalk Burger, Juan Smith, Wynand Olivier, Beast Mtawarira, Bismarck du Plessis, Andries Bekker and Bjorn Basson will or have been offered large amounts of foreign coin to grace the smaller fields of Europe. The challenge posed to Saru and their member unions is how do they compete with the financial muscle of European club rugby when the exchange rate is at such a disparity?
The answer for this age of professional rugby, perhaps the golden age considering how the season is becoming more structured, can be found in New Zealand. Over the last two weeks Richie McCaw and Daniel Carter, the two alpha males of All Black rugby, have signed four-year deals with the New Zealand Rugby Union. The fact that South African rugby administrators should take notice of is the compromise reached to ensure that both parties get what they pay for. Carter and McCaw’s contracts have a built-in clause of some type which allows them to either take time off from the game, play rugby in Europe for a season or maybe even both. It allows the players to pursue their financial interests while at the same time guaranteeing a stable commitment to the All Blacks’ cause.
This appears to be an option Saru can pursue. In allowing their players, their most important product, to spread their wings in Europe for a season or two while still being contracted to the national body achieves two missions, for two different parties, in one foul swoop. It allows for much greater depth in planning from World Cup cycle to World Cup cycle, which is what the international rugby scene has become for the most part, excluding the yearly Tri-Nations (soon to be Four Nations) and Six Nations tournaments.
Today poses difficult questions for rugby administrators to answer in this country when they have a player under their banner that is garnering interest from overseas. Instead of continuing the dogma of Saru, where a player is only eligible for the Springboks (exceptions excluded such as that ridiculous Wales Test last season) if they play on local soil. A bit of dynamism and lee-way is what is called for to ensure that when it comes to the long view, the best interests of South African rugby are looked after. New Zealand have found a way to compromise, and considering the way South Africa in general has and is learning to compromise with different parts of its soul, Saru should be capable of doing the same.
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