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Cape Town – The South African Rugby Union (SARU) should consider changes to its competition structures to ensure that promising black players, in particular, do not “disappear” between under-21 and senior level.
That was the view on Monday from South African Rugby Players Association (SARPA) chief executive Piet Heymans.
“The players’ position is that they want equal opportunities. If they are good enough, they want to play. No player wants to be viewed as a quota player and everybody wants to be there on merit. Black players are not in favour of quotas. Their plea is for equal playing opportunities and game time,” said Heymans.
“SARU should be creative with the competition structures and see if there is a way of making the transition from junior to senior level easier. The bigger provinces should also be more willing to loan players they aren’t using to smaller provinces. It is happening already, but the system can be utilised even better.”
Sport24 understands that the Vodacom Cup will still be played as usual next year, but that an age limit may be applied from 2012 onwards.
One possibility is to make it an under-23 competition, while there is also a school of thought that it should make way for a super club competition.
“It does not help for SARU to criticise the provinces. As governing body of rugby, SARU have the ability to do something about the (transformation) issue. The question is just whether the leadership is strong enough to really do something about it,” said Heymans.
He also believes that it’s important to manage the expectations of players.
“Players have high expectations and don’t necessarily want to wait a year or two for their opportunities. They want it immediately,” said Heymans.
“In that case a loan option should be looked at, or a player should play club rugby with the understanding that he will definitely be in the future plans.
“Communication and honesty is very important in the management of a player’s expectations. If a player knows where he fits into future plans and knows what he has to do to get there, it will contribute a lot to players not becoming disillusioned and then stopping playing rugby.”
Cape Town – The South African Rugby Union (SARU) should consider changes to its competition structures to ensure that promising black players, in particular, do not “disappear” between under-21 and senior level.
That was the view on Monday from South African Rugby Players Association (SARPA) chief executive Piet Heymans.
“The players’ position is that they want equal opportunities. If they are good enough, they want to play. No player wants to be viewed as a quota player and everybody wants to be there on merit. Black players are not in favour of quotas. Their plea is for equal playing opportunities and game time,” said Heymans.
“SARU should be creative with the competition structures and see if there is a way of making the transition from junior to senior level easier. The bigger provinces should also be more willing to loan players they aren’t using to smaller provinces. It is happening already, but the system can be utilised even better.”
Sport24 understands that the Vodacom Cup will still be played as usual next year, but that an age limit may be applied from 2012 onwards.
One possibility is to make it an under-23 competition, while there is also a school of thought that it should make way for a super club competition.
“It does not help for SARU to criticise the provinces. As governing body of rugby, SARU have the ability to do something about the (transformation) issue. The question is just whether the leadership is strong enough to really do something about it,” said Heymans.
He also believes that it’s important to manage the expectations of players.
“Players have high expectations and don’t necessarily want to wait a year or two for their opportunities. They want it immediately,” said Heymans.
“In that case a loan option should be looked at, or a player should play club rugby with the understanding that he will definitely be in the future plans.
“Communication and honesty is very important in the management of a player’s expectations. If a player knows where he fits into future plans and knows what he has to do to get there, it will contribute a lot to players not becoming disillusioned and then stopping playing rugby.”
