The mass exodus of South African rugby players to Europe has recently increased exponentially and there seems to be no solution available to try and curb this trend.
There is no better example of this than the announcement of that Springbok flanker Jaco Kriel’s has decided to leave South African franchise Emirates Lions and join Gloucester in England.
Embed from Getty Images
Kriel joins a long list of players who have made a decision to go abroad. The question is, why are so many players following this trend and what is being done about it?
Money Talks
When one puts all else aside apart from finances, it is relatively straightforward to understand why players choose to ply their trade abroad in terms of the financial gain.
The opportunity to earn foreign currency as a drawcard goes out beyond just the rugby world as many talented South Africans have taken up the opportunity to earn stronger currencies than the rand.
South Africa’s recent junk status debacles has only increased this. At the same time, there is also a lot more money being pumped into the sport in Europe particularly in the French Top 14 league.
Two years ago, a report was compiled by Businesstech that estimated that at any given time, a player in Europe will likely be earning three times what they would be earning in South Africa.
It is estimated that a Super Rugby player in South Africa will earn between R700 000 and R800 000 annually. In comparison, former Springbok flyhalf Morne Steyn is reportedly earning around €47,000 (R700 000) every month.
Embed from Getty Images
The numbers alone illustrate very well why 372 South African rugby players are registered to play in European leagues.
Reasons to stay
Unfortunately, this is not a very long nor compelling list.
Currently, the biggest reason to stay in and play rugby in South Africa is a desire to remain in the country or more often, to remain in contention for national selection.
Embed from Getty Images
Last year, South African Rugby Union made a bold attempt at slowing down the exodus by announcing that any South African player playing abroad that does not have an excess of 30 national caps (appearances) for the Springboks will not be eligible for selection.
This did not include players who chose to play in the Japanese Top League because their season does not overlap with the South African one.
This policy was very similar to Australia who also have a minimum national representation cap and New Zealand who as a general rule, does not select overseas based players for the All Blacks.
The problem with this is that the All Blacks are the most successful team in the history of the game and selection is seen as the pinnacle of any players rugby career. It is worth mentioning that New Zealand player contracts are significantly more valuable than Springbok ones.
While this policy might have put some doubt into the plans of young players harbouring ambitions to play in the green and gold, the recent announcement that Rassie Erasmus will have the opportunity to ignore this ruling has completely blown it out of the water anyway.
If a young talented player can go to Europe and earn close to a $1 million a year and still be selected to represent the Springboks, there is almost no argument to keep them from staying other than simply wanting to remain in the country.
Where does the future lie?
Embed from Getty Images
Currently, the future for rugby within South Africa looks very glim. Controversial selection policies are dividing fans at large, the national set up is a mess and the governing body is even more so.
This is not aided by the performance of the South African teams in Super Rugby and recently the Pro 14 who consistently fail to become dominant forces in the competitions.
The current ‘brain drain’ is the biggest challenge that faces Saru who at this stage. Unfortunately as it stands, Saru do not have the financial muscle or the Springbok selection drawcard at this stage to prevent it.
South African rugby stands at a cross roads, and if nothing is done soon then any hopes of South African teams becoming dominant will fade. The biggest problem is, there seems to be no apparent solution.
