Cape Town - The Western Province Rugby Union (WPRU) has reportedly drawn up a list of players it wants to sell in order to cut costs.
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Netwerk24 reported on Sunday that the union was willing to negotiate the release of 19 players, either on loan or to sell them.
The list includes hooker Scarra Ntubeni and lock Chris van Zyl, WP’s captain in their victorious Currie Cup campaign of 2017 and utility back Craig Barry.
The Afrikaans website added that the list had been sent to several South African unions.
Ten players are available to leave immediately, while other nine only after this year’s Currie Cup.
The WP Rugby Union has been struggling financially in recent times and is under pressure to cut its budget.
The union owes investment company Remgro an amount believed to be about R44 million.
Remgro came to the WP Rugby’s rescue when it was set to be liquidated at the end of 2016.
There were rumours last week that WP had sold Newlands in an attempt to cover its debt, but this was denied by the union’s president Thelo Wakefield.
WP's business arm was placed in final liquidation by the Western Cape High court in 2016 after the union was slapped with an R276 million lawsuit by Aerios for reneging on an advertising rights contract with the company.
Aerios recently confirmed it would challenge WP’s liquidation in court while it planned to proceed with suing the union for breach of contract.
WP players to leave immediately:
Caleb Oosthuizen, Neethling Fouche, Piet-Louw Strauss, Dean Muir, Steph de Witt, Luke Stringer, Nyasha Tarusenga, Justin Phillips, Dan Kriel, Grant Hermanus
WP players to leave after Currie Cup:
Scarra Ntubeni, Chris van Zyl, Reuben de Villiers, Nama Xaba, Josh Stander, David Brits, Nico Leonard, Duncan Saal, Craig Barry