We are currently in unknown territories with Covid 19 well and truly wreaking havoc on the bank balances of rugby teams around the world. SA Rugby took the opportunity to implement the new contracting model of 45 senior players and R60 million cap for each of the four PRO 16 bound franchises. The cap on players and salaries is something that was pioneered by the National Football League (NFL) in America where private ownership has been around for decades and the system works like clockwork.
The two major differences between the NFL and SA Rugby is that they have a draft system coming out of College Football allowing the worst performing teams to get the highest picks each year and the NFL earns enormous revenues from broadcast rights, merchandising and large, often packed stadiums. The draft system is a clever way of keeping the talent level as even as possible (Soccer could learn a thing or two from this). The NFL teams are recruiting 22/23 year prospects who have physically matured to fit into the schemes relatively seamlessly. In South African our recruiting starts earlier in high school where the risk as to whether a player will develop into a future star is far higher. To the point where you cannot expect the likes of the Bulls and Sharks to shell out large amounts of dwindling rands to emerging players who are just that – emerging. For this system to work one would need a uniform competition with players the same age and be fed into a draft system where they couldn’t be contacted/recruited until the ‘draft period’ designated by SA Rugby was over. This ‘draft period’ would involve evaluation camps where coaches/scouts could see first hand how the players perform. The closest ready-made model is the Varsity Cup which is producing more and more talent each year in the professional franchises. This would need a monumental shift in how players and coaches interact during the draft period as coaches/talent scouts would not to be to actively recruit players but rather evaluate them. Players themselves would also have to agree to play for whichever team picked.
SA Rugby is miles behind on the revenue streams that they earn compared to the NFL franchises but there is no reason that it couldn’t work on a smaller scale. For example the NFL Draft is a big event held over 3 days with much fanfare and excitement (Broadcast Revenue), the NFL combine where players show the prospective scouts the skills and physical attributes they possess (Broadcast Revenue) and ProBowls where the best of the best play against each (Broadcast Revenue). For SA Rugby to keep up in the world of private ownership they need to lean into the NFL model rather than resist it and the cap system is a good start.
One of the many advantages of this is reducing the talent black hole where players who are achieving at school level or shortly thereafter disappear from the face of rugby never to be heard of again. By having a singular tournament with all the talent involved means that the scouting of the players is far more detailed and information on players readily available. For example if a player has a perception of not being explosive enough one just has to look at the uniform testing results and see where the problem lies. If all the players are doing strength tests (Bench press, Squat and Hang Clean) and performance tests (Bronco tests, 10m,40m sprints and vertical leaps) it is easy to see where they are failing and how to help them. Instead of ignoring a potential talent because he has a perceived weakness it can be rectified before or even after the Draft takes place. This will reduce a large section of the rugby talent pool disappearing because there will be enough eyes on them to truly evaluate if they are good enough.
It is a risky change in what has been a very volatile period in sports but the chance to take rugby in South African to the next level is worth it.
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