SARU
A proposal to expand the Currie Cup to eight teams in 2014 was withdrawn before being put to the vote at a SARU Special General Council meeting in Cape Town on Friday.
Only players who make a Test appearance will be given a Springbok number and regarded as full Springboks.
The South African Rugby Union’s executive committee is set to hold a meeting here on Thursday to discuss the future structure of the Super Rugby competition.
More teams will to be added from 2016, when a new TV broadcast deal will come into effect.
Civil rights organisation AfriForum has warned SARU in a letter that its decision to implement racial quotas in the Vodacom Cup would constitute a violation of the IRB’s prohibition on racial discrimination.
SARU was also informed in the letter that the Olympic Charter, with which rugby has to comply as Olympic sport, explicitly prohibits racial discrimination.
South African Rugby Union CEO Jurie Roux has been linked to a police investigation into major financial irregularities at Stellenbosch University.
At the centre of the investigation is former Stellenbosch Rugby Football Club chairperson and Deputy Director of student finances, Chris de Beer, a good friend of Roux’s and a SARU-accredited agent.
South African Rugby Union (SARU) president Oregan Hoskins wants to see a 17-team Super Rugby competition in future with fewer local derbies and an Argentine team in the mix.
The Super Rugby format is set to change from 2016 when a new broadcast deal takes effect and Hoskins would like to see a change from the current 15-team format.
SARU have made a public statement about the format of the Currie Cup PremierDivision for 2014.
In short, the proposed expansion to 8 teams from the current 6, has been rejected by a Special General Council meeting of the stakeholders of SA Rugby.
The Media Release reads as follows:
The Springboks are once again likely to field a match-day squad on Saturday liberally sprinkled with overseas-based players … but SARU has reiterated its green light for coach Heyneke Meyer’s approach to the matter.
South Africa tackle Australia in The Rugby Championship at Newlands (17:00) and the Springbok match 23, to be revealed later on Wednesday, is likely to feature at least seven players already based with foreign clubs and another, Zane Kirchner, who very shortly dons a Leinster jersey.
Springboks and former national team captains were united in predicting that the new Springbok Experience rugby museum would be a major success after it opened its doors to the public at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town for the first time on Tuesday.
Springbok captain Jean de Villiers was the first official visitor to the new attraction closely followed by the rest of the Springbok squad and former national team captains, all of whom were ‘wowed’ by the world-class new installation – before the doors were thrown open to the public at the sounding of the noon gun.
The South African Rugby Union has spiritedly knocked back suggestions that it did not take a powerful enough stance following the “Bismarck du Plessis affair” in the Castle Rugby Championship Test between New Zealand and South Africa in Auckland.
The Springbok hooker has subsequently had his controversial red card, issued by French referee Romain Poite at Eden Park on Saturday, erased by a SANZAR judicial officer, and he is clear to represent the country against the Wallabies if chosen at Newlands on Saturday week.
But some domestic critics and fans have raged that it is “too little too late” as the dismissal of Du Plessis badly dented the Boks’ prospects of winning at their long-time bogey venue; the All Blacks eventually won 29-15.
Mr Oregan Hoskins, President of the South African Rugby Union (SARU), on Sunday paid tribute to former SARU vice-president and long-serving rugby administrator, Koos Basson, who passed away on Saturday. He was 74.
Mr Basson had recently become ill with a heart condition and had been discharged from hospital on Monday.
He passed away at home during the Springboks’ match against New Zealand, doing the thing that he most enjoyed in life, watching rugby, said his widow, Stella.
SANZAR judicial officer Terry Willis has removed a red card from the disciplinary record of Bismarck du Plessis.
Du Plessis was issued with a red card after receiving two yellow cards during the Rugby Championship match between New Zealand and South Africa at the weekend.
A star-studded array of national captains as well as the entire Springbok squad will attend the official opening of The Springbok Experience at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town two weeks today (September 24), the South African Rugby Union confirmed on Tuesday.
Coach Heyneke Meyer, captain Jean de Villiers, players and management will be joined by captains representing all rugby’s traditions as well as other VIPs to open the state-of-the-art rugby museum.
On Wednesday last week SARU announced that ASICS will be the new apparel sponsor of the Springboks as well as other associated national teams.
A six year deal was signed running from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2019, spanning over the world cup in England 2015 and in Japan 2019.
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) wants Jaque Fourie to again be available for Springbok selection.
Since the Springbok squad for the upcoming Rugby Championship was announced, featuring 10 players who will be applying their trade away from South African shores, speculation has been ongoing whether there has been a shift away from picking South African based players over internationally based South Africans for the Springboks.
This week there has been some mumblings by Jurie Roux, SARU CEO, and the inclusion of Japan-based Fourie du Preez has prompted the question whether Japan’s clubs and our National team setup has moved the goal posts as far as selection of Japanese players are concerned.
Opinion is widely devided on whether the Springboks should allow foreign-based players to be eligible for Springbok selection, with the one lot saying it’s the professional era and where you are based no longer matters, as long as you are the best in your position. The result is the conundrum of player availability well before a Test. At the moment clubs overseas are only obliged to release the players to be available on the Monday preceeding the Test, which allows for very little preparation time.
On the other hand there has been the stance that overseas-based players should not be picked for the Springboks, in order to firstly discourage players leaving the SA shores for lucrative deals elsewhere, having chosen to apply their trade elsewhere and thus voluntarily choosing not to be considered for the Springboks. I was a serious proponent of this stance, but I’ve had somewhat of a mind shift, I must admit.
Certainly for the upcoming Rugby Championship, it would have been foolhardy not to pick the Springboks who have recently decided to go overseas, after all there are 6 regular starting Springboks amongst those recent departees.
I now find myself in the middle somewhere, hoping players could stay in South Africa if they aspire to continue or start their Springbok careers, yet seeing the inevitability of the lure of the stronger currencies abroad.
The solution would have been simple…. institute a CENTRALLY CONTRACTED SYSTEM here in South Africa (very similar to the New Zealand system), where SARU takes charge of the contracts of the frontline Springbok players, but that remains a pipe dream and clearly is beyond the capabilities of the inept bunch at SARU. In stead we can rely on SARU to muck things up even more and I’m afraid but I would not want their grubby hands to touch Central Contrating under those circumstances.
Another solution could be to impliment a CLEAR OVERSEAS QUOTA SYSTEM in the selection policy, where SARU regulates to the players and national coach that only 2 or 3 overseas-based players may be included in a 30-man squad. This would have put the Springboks in a conundrum situation right now before the start of The Rugby Championship, but maybe with an eye on the End Of Year Tours and beyond, that system must be applied, unless it can be negotiated that overseas-based players are available earlier and for every Test of the year, no exceptions allowed.
Below some of the news and speculation in this regard, taken from what was available in the press.
Some thoughts for you to chew on…
I was asked yesterday by someone at Sky what my feeling was on the future of SuperRugby and I said, all three Unions of SANZAR have recently released their year end figures and none of them made any real profit. They are all close to borderline break even.
The current number Super Rugby matches per annum is 125, so any reduction of matches would no doubt mean a reduction in broadcast money.
The talk is about South Africa splitting from SANZAR in terms of Super Rugby only. However the South African time zone goes a long way to pushing up the money that is earned from the broadcast deal.
If SA leave, more matches will be played in New Zealand and Australian time zones (according to the reports). This has no global appeal.
The South African Rugby Union’s (Saru’s) policy of favouring local players over overseas-based stars could be under threat, especially when the Springboks name their squad for the Castle Rugby Championship at the end of the week.
Saru have been firm that there has been no change in the policy regarding players based overseas, but a recent exodus of Boks stars may make that policy shift when the Bok squad is chosen for the November tour of Europe.
A group of 38 players, featuring eight players who were not part of the first camp, will assemble in Durban for the second Springbok training camp before the final squad for the Castle Lager Incoming Series is named early next month.
Europcar South Africa has joined the South African Rugby Union (SARU) sponsors’ family as the official car rental supplier to SARU, its national squads and national teams, it was announced on Tuesday.
Today we received an open letter to Jurie Roux, SARU CEO, lamenting the fact that the design and production of the nationally important new Springbok Museum in Cape Town was awarded to a UK (English) design company.
A number of years ago I learnt and realised first hand how apathetic South Africans are when it comes to doing something for this sport we love so much, rugby in South Africa. I learnt that SARU can do anything they want, there will be a few muted murmers and a lot of around the braai chatter about how these fools run OUR game, but nobody does anything about it and eventually these fools at SARU just laugh at us… seeing us all as mere consumers of the game, not de facto stakeholders in the game.
Suffice to say that I am deeply concerned about how SARU runs rugby in South Africa and for South African interests.
Without further a do, here is the exact contents of the letter, take a look for yourself:
The South African Rugby Union’s 2012 annual report shows that full executive members of its executive council were awarded massive salary and bonus increases, even though the union suffered a huge slump in profits last year.
Page 51 of the annual report reveals that SARU’s after-tax profit plunged 87% to R2.347m in the year ended December 31 2012, down from R18.554m the year before.
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) reported a group profit before taxation of R6.2 million for the year ended 31 December 2012 it was announced at the organisation’s Annual Meeting in Cape Town on Friday.
New scrum laws to make amateur rugby safer will come into effect at club and schools level as the season gets under way this month, following an initiative introduced by the South African Rugby Union (Saru). A new scrum engagement sequence has been devised for amateur rugby to minimise the risks of serious injury suffered in this facet of play.
Doctor Louis Luyt, a big man and bigger figure in Rugby Circles in South African Rugby, passed away ealier today, 1 February 2013.
Southern Kings captain Luke Watson has said that SARU’s decision to relegate the Lions was unfair and expressed sadness at the Lions’ Super Rugby exit.
Speaking to SportsTalk in a radio interview, Watson sympathised with the Lions’ plight, and said fans had every right to feel aggrieved.
The Kings’ request to the South African Rugby Union (SARU) to allow them more than two foreign players in Super Rugby has been rejected.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer’s priority will always be to pick local players first, but the South African Rugby Union may have conceded the fight to keep top Springboks in South Africa in the near future.
The South African Rugby Union have revealed the Springboks’ list of international fixtures for the 2013 season which ends with a Test in France for the first time since 2009.
The Springboks start their internationals in June as usual followed by the Rugby Championship and end with a three match tour of Europe which features Tests in Scotland, Wales and France.
The Southern Kings have admitted they went ahead and signed additional foreigners, despite a South African Rugby Union statement that they are allowed just two imports.
Former Springbok prop Robbie Kempson has been appointed as one of the new provincial academy managers, SA Rugby Union (Saru) announced on Friday.
The Springboks will face their Rugby World Cup 2015 Pool B opponents, Scotland and Samoa (as well as Italy), in an innovative new tournament featuring double-header Test matches in 2013, the South African Rugby Union announced on Thursday.
The 20-team field for the inaugural SARU Community Cup for SA’s top club rugby teams was confirmed by SARU on Tuesday. The competition kicks off in February 2013.
Rugby fans across the country will be given a voice for the first time in the selection of winners in the SARU Rugby Player of the Year awards, SARU announced on Monday.
The South African Rugby Union have effectively shut the door on the Southern Kings’ drive to field more than two overseas players in their Super Rugby squad.