South African rugby leaning towards draft system

South African Rugby President Mark Alexander says a draft system could be put in place to assist the Cheetahs and Kings in improving their squads for the PRO14 competition.

“We are talking about a drafting system. At our next franchise meeting, we are hopefully going to get the finalisation. We presented it, a couple of tweaks, we are almost there to get that contracting model out,” Alexander said according to Eyewitness News.

Both franchises were axed from Super Rugby last year and subsequently moved north to join the PRO14.

In their first season, the Cheetahs fell just short of a place in the semi-finals, while the Kings managed just one win from their 21 matches.

“We are putting a capping on the contracting of players, we’ve got a contracting model about to be approved. In that contracting model, a lot of players will become available to other teams like the Kings and the Cheetahs,” Alexander said.

“In any position, you’ll have three or four players for that position. The number four and number five player never get an opportunity to play, that kid can be drafted by another union and have game time. So, we can have the best players playing rugby every week and not some of the best players sitting in the storeroom.”

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Alexander is pleased with South Africa’s place in the northern hemisphere competition, and would like to expand their presence in the future.

“It’s good for us, we are the only country in the world that plays in two different hemispheres and two different international tournaments,” Alexander said.

“We believe we have eight franchises, currently six are accommodated, we need two more to be accommodated. It’s good for us, it gives up options but also it gives different styles of rugby at different times of the year.”

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