The opportunity to earn foreign currency coupled with the chance to escape load-shedding and politics no doubt feature high on most people’s agendas — but particularly so for athletes able to compete on the international scene.
South Africa rugby union players Siya Kolisi and Steven Kitshoff are all set to exit the domestic club scene and will be joining just under 200 other South African-born players contracted to clubs abroad.
But who has gone where? The Outlier, an independent publication specialising in data to create public service stories and visualisations, has tracked players who have left, detailing the countries they have gone to on a graph that shows while New Zealand and Canada have each signed only one South African player, France and England top the ranks as the foreign countries that have taken the most South African rugby exports, with France having taken 90 of our boys, followed by England with 53.
Springbok captain Kolisi will join 89 other South Africans in France when he starts with Paris club Racing 92. Kitshoff will join eight fellow South Africans in Ireland when he joins Ulster later this year.
Kolisi will leave the Sharks and Kitshoff the Stormers after the 2023 Rugby World Cup, which will be hosted by France from September 8 to October 28.
According to The Outlier, close to 40% of the Springboks’ 51-man squad are contracted to clubs outside South Africa. There's an expectation more local players will follow suit after the World Cup.
South Africa is currently ranked fourth in the World Rugby Men’s Rankings and will be going all out to defend its title. And if the Bokke manage to once again bring the coveted Webb Ellis trophy home, they will have won the most Rugby World Cups in history, a spot they will jointly occupy with New Zealand’s All Blacks.
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