South Africans abroad | Premiership vs Japan vs Top 14 XVs

The victorious Lions series and Rugby World Cup heroics in Japan two years previously have made the Springboks the poster boys for utilising overseas talent.

While Rugby Australia ponder whether to scrap the Giteau Law, most Tier 1 unions still operate some version of a ‘overseas’ selection policy – whether soft or hard – that disincentivizes or straight up prohibits the use by the national team of players pursuing professional rugby careers on foreign shores.

Yet South Africa have gone the other way and it seems to be working for them. The weakness of the South African Rand means SA franchises simply can’t compete with foreign leagues – or at least all but the most modestly financed ones.

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Of South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber’s initial 46-man Springboks squad for the British & Irish Lions series, 23 of their number play their rugby overseas.

Eight of that squad currently ply their trade in the Gallagher Premiership, with another eight in Top 14, five in the Japanese Top League and two in the PRO14.

This compares to the 23 that play their rugby in South Africa, a significant proportion of which have returned to their native lands in the last 12 months.

Of the starting Springboks fifteen for the first and second Tests against the Lions, eight played their rugby outside of South Africa. That rose to nine in the third.

Of course, this is just a fraction of the South Africans that play professional and semi-professional rugby around the globe. Roughly nine percent of the Gallagher Premiership player senior player base is now South African.

There are still significant numbers in France too, though strict JIFF protocols, which limit the number of non-French players that can be fielded by an LNR team, adding to a migration push meaning more South African rugby players will be looking to the UK, Ireland and Japan for a new home.

The scale of the player drain from South Africa is easily illustrated.

Here we pick three ‘South African abroad’ XVs, from the Gallagher Premiership, Japanese professional rugby and the Top 14. What’s remarkable is that in the case of the Prem and Top 14, you can fill either nearly entirely with capped Springboks.

SPRINGBOKS IN ENGLAND XV:
15: Tyrone Green – Harlequins
14: Kobus Van Wyk – Leicester Tigers
13: Rohan Janse Van Rensburg – Sale Sharks
12: Andre Esterhuizen – Harlequins
11: Francois Hougaard – Wasps*
10: Robert Du Preez – Sale Sharks
9: Faf De Klerk – Sale Sharks
8: Jasper Wiese – Leicester Tigers
7: Marco Van Staden – Leicester Tigers
6: Dan du Preez – Sale Sharks
5: Jean-luc Du Preez – Sale Sharks
4: Lood Du Jager – Sale Sharks
3: Vincent Koch – Saracens
2: Akker Van Der Merwe – Sale Sharks
1: Coenie Oosthuizen – Sale Sharks

*Normally a scrumhalf but has started games on the wing for the Springboks and Worcester Warriors

SPRINGBOKS IN THE TOP 14
15. Elton Jantjies – Pau
14. Cheslin Kolbe – Toulon
13. Raymond Rhule – La Rochelle
12. Jan Serfontein – Montpellier
11. Dillyn Leyds – La Rochelle
10. Handre Pollard – Montpellier
9. Cobus Reinach – Montpellier
8. Wiaan Liebenberg – La Rochelle
7. Retief Marais – Brive
6. Rynhardt Elstadt – Toulouse
5. Eben Etzebeth – Toulon
4. Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg – Montpellier
3. Cody Thomas – Brive
2. Joseph Dweba – Bordeaux
1. Nemo Roelofse – Stade Francais

JAPANESE CLUB RUGBY
15: Willie Le Roux – Toyota Verblitz
14: Sylvian Mahuza – Shining Arcs
13: Jessie Kriel – Canon Eagles
12: Johnny Kotze – Shimizu Blue Sharks
11: Gerhard van den Heever – Kubota Spears
10: Shane Gates – Shining Arcs
9: Ryan Louwrens – Kinetsu Liners
8: Kwagga Smith –  Yamaha Júbilo
7: Kobus van Dyk- Canon Eagles
6: Franco Mostert – Honda Heat
5: Lourens Erasmus – Red Dolphins
4: Ruan Botha – Kubota Spears
3: Dayan van der Westhuizen – Red Dolphins
2: Malcolm Marx – Kubota Spears
1: Matthys Basson – Honda Heat