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You're wrong, Jake. Overseas players only make South African rugby stronger

By Daniel Gallan
Sale Sharks' Faf de Klerk (right) and Lood de Jager celebrate victory after the final whistle in the Gallagher Premiership match at Twickenham Stoop, London. Picture date: Sunday February 6, 2022. (Photo by John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images)

In the wake of his side’s 18-13 loss to the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship final, the Bulls head coach Jake White opted to pick at an old scab that has bothered him for some time.

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“I don’t think you should allow guys to play overseas and come back and be a Springbok,” the 2007 World Cup winning coach said as the Stormers players popped champagne bottles in another room at the Cape Town stadium.

“I think it cheapens everything that people stood for. The reality is quite simple. Why would you stay in South Africa? Ask every guy if he would work in London for double his salary in pounds. Are they going to stay and work here? Why would you do that when you can still come back [from overseas] and play for South Africa?”

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Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber on foreign versus locally-based players

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Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber on foreign versus locally-based players

This is a drum that White has banged for some time now. When he was South Africa’s coach between 2004 and 2007, players who went abroad effectively ended their chances of donning the green and gold of their country. That remained true until Rassie Erasmus took charge of a team in disarray in 2018 and turned them into world beaters within 18 months.

In the three-Test series against England on home soil, Erasmus welcomed back the previously exiled Faf de Klerk from Sale, Willie le Roux from Wasps, Duane Vermeulen from Toulon and the Montpellier pair of Bismarck du Plessis and Francois Steyn.

South Africa won that series 2-1 but had to fight back in the first Test after a three-try blitz from England in Johannesburg left them stunned. In his first Test as captain, Siya Kolisi entrusted Vermeulen to address the team in what is widely credited as a turning point in that contest.

Would Kolisi have become the torchbearer for a transformed Springbok outfit without Vermeuelen’s speech? It’s hard to say. Had South Africa lost that game they might have lost the series. How much faith would the South African public have placed in an exuberant coach and an untested skipper? Would they have lifted the World Cup in Japan without that early impetus and belief?

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These are impossible questions to answer. What is beyond debate is the fact that no other rugby nation with realistic World Cup aspirations relies as much on its foreign based players.

Let’s examine the squads assembled for these July internationals starting this week. Every single member of the New Zealand, Ireland, France and England squads play for local clubs or franchises. Four of Australia’s 35-man group play in Japan. Six prominent members of Wales’s team represent English clubs while three quarters of Scotland’s squad call Edinburgh or Glasgow home.

Argentina are the exception as only two of their their players – Ignacio Ruiz and Mayco Vivas – represent the Jaguares. 17 play in France, eight in England and six in Italy, Scotland and New Zealand, including former captain Pablo Matera who helped the Crusaders to a Super Rugby title this month.

But Argentina aren’t going to win next year’s World Cup. South Africa, the defending champions, will be confident of lifting their fourth Webb Ellis Cup. And within their squad of 43 for the home series against Wales are 19 Springboks who collect a monthly salary in either pounds, euros or yen.

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That’s 44% of the Springbok group. It’s an extraordinary departure from what White believes was a necessary policy that preserved the integrity of the Springbok heritage. It would be easy to label White’s view as antiquated or rooted in jingoism, but the Springboks touch a part of the national psyche that few organisations can reach. They evoke a primal response from those who adore them. This is a team that transcends rational thought. Even former coaches aren’t immune to this ancient rumble.

But White’s claims are influenced by rugby reasons. He claims that a player drain, as he would see it, weakens South Africa’s domestic teams. Recent evidence would counter his argument. Few expected the Bulls to dismantle Leinster in the URC semi-finals and an all South African showpiece suggests that the production line of talent is still functioning as it should.

This is an important point. If the foreign based Springboks continued to represent the clubs that developed them, they would be standing in the way of younger players who would otherwise wither on the vine. How many promising young English players, for example, will fade into obscurity because of a lack of opportunity in the Premiership?

There is also the question over finances that one must consider when evaluating the worth of selecting South Africans from abroad. As Erasmus wrote in his column for the Daily Mail in March: “People say South Africa are stupid for allowing our players to leave. Is it stupid? Look at England, there are six or seven South African players taking the places of young English players at Premiership clubs.

“For us, it’s wonderful. Among about 32 players we are looking at, they’re probably earning 400-million rand that doesn’t have to come off our accounts. Meanwhile, back in South Africa, we have the next South African lock coming through because there is no financial incentive for players to come here.

“Is it good for England that Faf de Klerk is starting ahead of Raffi Quirke at Sale? No. Is it good for South Africa? Yes, it works for us.”

What’s more, those players who play abroad are also exposed to different coaching philosophies in leagues that play a different brand of rugby. They share a dressing room with team-mates from a range of cultures and are forced to challenge themselves in an alien land. Every foreign based Springbok that I have interviewed, to a man, believes that they have grown as a player and a person because they no longer live in the country of their birth.

It may bother the likes of Jake White and others stuck in a bygone age, but for the majority of Springbok supporters the only currency that counts is trophies in the cabinet. And this team, drawn from 19 different clubs from five different countries, might yet win more than any other.

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Adrian 11 minutes ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

6 Go to comments
T
Trevor 2 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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B
Bull Shark 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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