In recent years we have seen so many of our talented athletes leave the South African shores to enjoy better remuneration abroad. The number of our rugby players in Europe and Japan alone should be a massive concern. The retirement of CJ Stander especially made me think about this exodus of talented players that become legends elsewhere. I would have loved to have him in the green and gold!
Other greats plying their talent abroad are Faf de Klerk, Eben Etzebeth, Cheslin Kolbe and many more. But its not only rugby players that are leaving. Not too long ago Wayde van Niekerk, the 400m record holder, announced that he is leaving for the US.
No one can say that we are not able to produce talent of colour either. Politics and race is not the problem. Anyone bigoted enough to say we don’t have or can’t create players of talent should be sent to prison and the key thrown away. Not just for the normal reason but also because they have obviously had their head in the sand for too long and should not be let loose in society.
Players like Chester Williams, Bryan Habana, Tendai (The Beast) Mtawarira and Siya Kolisi are not legends in a special category based on skin colour. No, they are true South African and Global rugby legends. So if politics is not the issue what is?
The mindset change
When you try and do a Google search on great rugby players to see what amateur rugby club they played for before playing for a province you will find one of two things. Either they were picked straight out of school or they played for one or two feeding clubs. I remember the old rugby programmes use to show the player and the club he played for. There was a depth in SA rugby that has been lost due to the new thinking of picking a player straight out of school and placing all your bets on him for his career, forget about all the other players that only develop later on in their careers.
There is an argument that the Varsity Cup is another avenue for players that didn’t make it to Craven week but that in no way, shape or form supports club rugby. If anything its strengthened the foothold that university teams had as feeding clubs for unions. Look at the University of Pretoria and the Bulls or Shimlas and the Free State Cheetahs as a good examples. It also only looks at players below a certain age.
So how can we create depth in our players if there is no real path to a provincial and possible Springbok spot? We need to really look at the selection mechanism and include clubs in the trial and selection process. And also not as a PR campaign where we say we did but we picked from the old lists. No, really look and find the talent needed.
The economic challenge to resolve
The Bulls have recently initiated a program where the Bulls’ contracted players were allocated to the Carlton League clubs via a draft system, similar to the one used in the NFL. This is a great move in the right direction; it will certainly expose the club players to a different level of experience and will certainly draw a few avid fans to the field. How many fans would not flock to go and play for Harlequins for a chance to practice with Duane Vermeulen?
But Duane will be with the Springboks for the foreseeable future as they prepare for the British and Irish Lions so how long will that hype last? What more can be done to attract and keep players at the clubs?
One of the major issues is that amateur players are not earning a lot of money if anything at all. Clubs simply cannot afford to pay their first teams a full salary let alone the second to fourth team. And those teams are the ones that add the depth to the local clubs which is the wide side of the funnel for the provincial teams.
Many of these players cannot afford medical aid and simply don’t have the support when they become injured. They certainly cannot afford time off work and jeopardise their income so what you find is after one rather big injury they simply don’t go back to the game. Others cannot recover well enough although they would love to continue playing.
One suggestion is to offer a subsidised medical aid for club rugby players where the players would not have to pay unaffordable fees. A sponsorship from some of the large medical aid firms with one or two other companies can make a world of difference to the game. It doesn’t have to be a single medical aid firm either. There is nothing stopping competing companies from collaborating on a project like this, all we need are open minded leaders that can buy into the vision.
I am willing to bet that we will see some players take up the sport just for the sake of having a medical aid! Imagine the colossus that SA rugby will become, more so than it already is.
In addition to a medical aid that will support hospitalisation and surgery the clubs can work with universities or teaching hospitals to support their recovery from injury. There are many biokineticists and physiotherapists in their final years that need practice hours and can support athletes under supervision.
This model can then also be applied to other sports. The reality is that the South African economy does not support the competition for players, the Rand will always struggle to win a bidding war against the Pound, Euro and many others. It wont be long until America starts throwing the Dollar into the fray. So let’s make a few smart decisions to build the depth in SA rugby that we so desperately need, or the green and gold will not be the same powerhouse in the future.
Image credits: http://www.rugbyrelics.com. Quino Al, Yogendra Singh and Benjamin Wedemeyer on Unsplash
shaune bouwer talks everything value 