RugbyRebels

As if South African rugby didn't have enough problems already. (R72m is a little over US$5m, I believe)

FORMER Western Province captain Divan Serfontein and SA Rugby Union legend Cassiem Jabaar have reacted with shock to reports that the Western Province Rugby Football Union could be facing a crippling R72 million lawsuit.

It was reported yesterday that Aerios (Pty) Limited 
will be claiming R72 million 
from the WP Rugby over a sponsorship dispute.

The dispute is believed to revolve around a sponsorship contract between WP Rugby and DHL (main sponsors of Newlands, Stormers and WP) without the consent of Aerios – holders of the union's commercial rights.

WP Rugby president Thelo Wakefield refused to be drawn into the matter yesterday.

“No comment. I will not comment until we meet with the board.”

Jabaar, a legendary Saru scrumhalf in the 1970s, said: “This was an issue that was raised before in general council meetings, and it’s only surfacing now.

"This is a huge administrative problem because they should know what contracts they go into. If they go into any contract, they cannot just do things the way they want to do things.

“This issue was raised three years ago and I was a part of that. If Wakefield is now back here with us, he has to answer to what 
went wrong.”

“I don’t know what’s going to happen if we lose this case. Western Province are 
overextending themselves.”

Serfontein, who led WP to three successive Currie Cup titles in the 1980s, said: “There needs to be a big shake-up
(at WP).

"They need to do a forensic audit to find where the problem lies with their finances. The people who aren’t competent need to 
be fired. Our rugby is really not managed properly.”

http://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/wp-rugby ... te-2084412

WP, one of rugby's all-time great rugby provinces, looks to be in a real mess:

THE Western Province Rugby Football Union (WPRFU) applied for and obtained a court order for a provisional liquidation of their commercial arm.

WPRFU ​president Thelo Wakefield said yesterday: ​“The tipping point for our finances was the persistent and complex legal disputes relating to certain commercial, media and wi-fi rights with one partner in particular, Aerios, over the last year.

Continues here: http://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/wp-rugby ... nt-2087790

Another crisis-hit Saffa province, following on from WP & Northern Transvaal . . .

The South African Rugby Players Association has launched an application to liquidate the Border Rugby Union after the union failed to pay its players.

According to Sarpa, which represents the Border players, the BRU did not pay the players their full salaries, leaving them without medical-aid cover.

After written demands issued by Sarpa, the BRU failed to meet its commitments to the players, attributing these failures to cash-flow challenges.

They were also advised by Sarpa that the players will be obliged to withhold their rugby-playing services until the medical premiums have been paid in full. Players are currently not allowed to train for, or participate in, a match for Border.

Sarpa managing director Eugene Henning says he is concerned about what the potential liquidation means for South African rugby.

'Although bringing the liquidation application is a no-win situation for everyone, it remains the only logical action for the players to take, especially taking into account the intolerable levels of uncertainty and hardship they have had to, and are still, enduring.

'We are concerned about the financial state of rugby in South Africa as this was the third union since the start of 2018 that was experiencing financial difficulties with the payment of player salaries while another major union indicated this week to us that it might not be able to meet its financial obligations towards the players in 2018.



http://www.sarugbymag.co.za/blog/detail ... liquidated

Rugbydom may one day Roux the day it kicked SA in the teeth:

Cape Town - A commitment to the long-term health of the game in South Africa led to the South African Rugby Union reporting a loss for the 2017 financial year it was announced on Thursday.

The investment in the bid to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup and in membership of the PRO14 competition were key to a pre-tax loss of R33.3m, said Jurie Roux, CEO of SA Rugby.

The investments skewed SA Rugby’s results, which would have shown a modest pre-tax profit but for the extraordinary items.

Roux said the organisation believed both expenses were strategic imperatives.

“We took the view that the long term prospects for rugby in South Africa would have been significantly improved by hosting the 2023 Rugby World Cup. The investment SA Rugby made in the process - in the region of R24.4m in 2017 - was justified by winning the recommendation of the Rugby World Cup board - before the vote went against us.”

Roux said that discussions were still underway with partners regarding commitments to cover the expenses of the bid.

Similarly, a once-off invitation was received in 2017 to join the PRO14 - an international rugby competition for teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It was considered essential to grasp the opportunity as the South African rugby community as a whole has been eager to widen playing options by competing in a northern hemisphere competition.

“The planned reduction in teams in Super Rugby presented two of our franchises and SA Rugby with a number of challenges,” said Roux.

“However, the chance opened up for us to answer those challenges and explore the long-held view in South African rugby that we must explore opportunities in the Northern Hemisphere.

“We secured additional funding to underwrite our entry to PRO14, but there was still a nett cost to SA Rugby of R37m in 2017. The organisation regards that as a good investment in the long-term sustainability of professional rugby in South Africa and of two important franchises in the short term.”

SA Rugby group revenues in 2017 were R1.19bn (R1.21bn in 2016) while expenses were R1.28bn (R1.25bn in 2016). Support for the 14 member unions and player welfare, through the use of player imagery and injury insurance, accounted for 33.7% of expenditure. Costs associated with national teams declined 9.6% to R177 million (attributable to the reduced payment of performance related bonuses and reduced travelling costs) while the costs of delivering competitions, Tests and partner rights accounted for another 31.6%.

Roux said the extraordinary investments made it impossible to achieve the objective of breaking even in 2017.

“However, it is our view that we did as best as we could through prudent financial management to reduce underlying costs in a challenging economic and financial environment before the extraordinary items,” he said.

“The prospects for 2018 and beyond look more promising. A sound budget was approved for the current year with a significant percentage of forecast revenue already secured while conservative expenditure principles were adopted.

“The opportunity for further revenue generation exists while a key area focus for the game is a comprehensive review of the number of professional players and their associated costs. The Rugby World Cup in Japan promises to provide SA Rugby with significant commercial opportunities next year, while we look forward to a commercially successful British & Irish Lions tour in 2021.

“It was a tough year and we have been financially stretched but we can look forward with more optimism in 2018.”

The annual financial statements will be presented for approval at the Annual Meeting in Cape Town on Friday, April 6, 2018.

https://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/failed- ... d-20180329

I miss the fierce old NZ-SA rivalries, that's for sure

rowan wrote:I miss the fierce old NZ-SA rivalries, that's for sure

Not anymore

Meanwhile, the legal SAgas continue . . .

The case against embattled former EP Kings president Cheeky Watson will go to trial on 20 August.

Watson and his co-accused Andrea Wessels, Nadia Gerwel, Mandisi Mkasa and Stephan Pretorius face up to 42 charges relating to fraudulent submissions, corruption, forgery and money laundering.

Along with his fellow accused, Watson briefly appeared in the Port Elizabeth Commercial Crimes Court on Friday, where the judge announced when the trial would start.

http://www.sarugbymag.co.za/blog/detail ... tand-trial

& this just in:

Mark Alexander re-elected as SA Rugby president

Mr Mark Alexander was re-elected as president of the South African Rugby Union for a four-year term at its annual meeting in Cape Town on Friday. Mr Alexander was opposed by Advocate Andre May, the president of the Leopards Rugby Union.

Mr Alexander was originally elected unopposed in October 2016 following the resignation of Mr Oregan Hoskins as president.
Mr Francois Davids was also re-elected in the role of deputy president for a two-year term, having been opposed by Dr Jan Marais of the Griffons Rugby Union.

Mr Hein Mentz (president of the Mpumalanga Rugby Union) and Mr Lindsay Mould (a former president of the Free State Rugby Union) were also elected to four-year terms as members of the Executive Council. They replace Mr Boet Fick (who stepped down) and Mr Vivian Lottering, who stood for re-election among six candidates for the role. The other candidates were: Mr Arthob Petersen, Mr JJ van der Mescht and Mr Thelo Wakefield.
Mr Alexander thanked the General Council for their vote of confidence and said that he believed that continuity was good for the union.

“We are all very aware of the tough period that South African rugby has been through since 2016 when we endured what we refer to as a perfect storm, but I believe we have turned the corner.

“We embarked on a turnaround strategy to get our organisation back on track and we now have some continuity to deliver that strategy. We knew from the onset that this would not be a quick-fix, but a committed two and a half year strategic process.

“But people judge us only on the performance of the Springbok team – we know that and we accept that. I believe that we are going in the right direction under the auspices of our new director of rugby, Rassie Erasmus, and that we will see the results on the field in due course.”

The Springboks play their first Test of the year against Wales in Washington DC, USA, on 2 June, 2018.