Blame agents for Bok woes

25 April 2017 - 09:35 By Brendan Venter
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Jan Serfontein celebrates as he runs in the opening try during the QBE International between England and South Africa at Twickenham in London on November 15 2014.
Jan Serfontein celebrates as he runs in the opening try during the QBE International between England and South Africa at Twickenham in London on November 15 2014.
Image: MIKE HEWITT/GETTY IMAGES

In South Africa we have a unique set of challenges to overcome and, in order to turn the Springboks into a world force again, everybody involved in rugby must play a part.

All the stakeholders are responsible for the wellbeing of SA rugby but a host of players' agents ignore this unwritten code.

I'm sure there are some really good agents out there but, looking at the advice Cobus Reinach and Jan Serfontein received, there are some shocking ones as well.

Like administrators, coaches and players, agents earn a salary for services rendered. But there is an unfortunate complexity that comes into play that calls agents' objectivity into question. If a player earns R6-million in South Africa, he pockets R3-million from his union and a further R3-million from SA Rugby.

Agents take commission on the players' earnings at club level but not at national team level, which creates the crisis. It means many agents in South Africa angle for overseas moves for their clients so they can improve on the amount of commission they earn. The constant refrain from agents is that they are doing what is best for the players. However, the bottom line is that, when money is involved, objectivity goes out the window. If the recent cases were not about money why not send out a press release explaining why young players leave the country at the peak of their powers?

Everybody accepts that rugby players in the twilight of their careers, or those deemed surplus to requirements, move abroad. For instance, nobody can hold it against CJ Stander for heading to Ireland in 2012 because he was told he was third in line at the Bulls. Stander has since forged a brilliant career with Munster and Ireland. However, I take issue with talented young players in their prime, already identified for future honours, leaving our shores. Bok supporters are justifiably desperate to see the team's results getting better. So, it is a real pity that there are agents in South Africa who don't care about our rugby - who are more concerned with lining their pockets.

In South Africa we love to blame SA Rugby when positive results are not forthcoming or talented players are lost to the system. The agents in question suggest suits at SA Rugby are to blame for dragging their feet in contract negotiations.

Maybe it is time to finger the real culprits. We are asking the vital stakeholders in the game to be patriotic, add worth and to help solve the problems affecting SA rugby. Agents are part of the problem rather than part of the solution. For many of them money is the be-all and end-all. With approximately 300 South African rugby players plying their trade abroad, we are bleeding talent. Agents need to take some form of responsibility and assist SA Rugby in stemming the player drain.

Players are advised by agents chasing the bottom line to sign overseas contracts at a young age when I feel they should be staying at home and adding value to club and country.

In an ideal world, decisions are made in the best interests of players and with the greater good of SA rugby in mind. However, when bigger sums of money are on offer, the waters become muddied and some peoples' intentions are revealed to be impure.

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