South Africa’s leading rugby players have been dealt a heavy blow after the country’s rugby bosses decided that players basing themselves abroad would no longer be eligible for the national rugby team.
The decision by the South African Rugby Union’s (Saru) Presidents’ Council on Thursday means some of the Springbok superstars will play their last matches for their country at this year’s World Cup in France. The tournament runs between September 7 and October 20.
Springbok captain John Smit, lock forward Victor Matfield, hooker Gary Botha and wing Ashwin Willemse are the big-name stars who have signed up with clubs in France and England for the forthcoming European season.
Others players heading north include Brent Russell, Gerrie Britz, Bob Skinstad, Percy Montgomery and a handful of promising youngsters, including Cheetahs Super 14 players Philip Burger and Ronnie Cooke.
South Africa’s rugby bosses have decided the only way to halt the exodus is to ban the overseas-based players from coming into contention for the Springbok side.
”It’s a really tricky situation, but we had to draw the line somewhere,” Saru president Oregan Hoskins told the Star.
”We want to reward the guys who stay in South Africa and further encourage them to remain here,” added Hoskins.
Up to 100 South African born players, including a number of former Test players, are currently in action in France, Wales, England and Italy.
In recent times Springbok coach Jake White has selected overseas-based players for the national team, most notably fullback Percy Montgomery and flyhalf Jaco van der Westhuyzen. Saracens prop Cobus Visagie was also called up when the Boks were on tour in Australia during the Tri-Nations series.
Hoskins said those call-ups were an exception after the rules in the country had been relaxed because White really wanted those specific players for his team.
”We’re now simply reverting back to what the rule was and that means if a guy doesn’t play locally he, won’t be allowed to play for South Africa,” Hoskins told the Star.
He added: ”If we allow guys to keep on leaving [South Africa] we’ll also be robbing the public of seeing the best players in action.”
Meanwhile, the worrying decline in the number of referees at provincial level was also discussed. According to Saru CEO Johan Prinsloo, the council acknowledges that the decline can be ascribed to several factors.
The meeting resolved that Saru and the South African Referees’ Association will engage all the relevant stakeholders, including the media, in order to draft and ultimately implement a strategic plan of action. This will include the recruitment of new match officials and measures to enhance the image of match officials.
Prinsloo said the decline in referees has become especially evident during the past two years.
”The primary reasons for this decline are the consistent verbal and physical abuse referees are subjected to during and after matches from spectators, players, administrators and also negative media reports. We deplore the constant attack on match officials as they are an integral part of the game.
”Of concern to Saru is the fact that the standard of match officials and therefore also the quality of rugby played will ultimately suffer if we allow this worrying trend to continue,” said Prinsloo. — Sapa-AFP