‘Money alone won’t bring Springboks back to South Africa’

SA Rugby is on the verge of completing a private equity partnership with American company Ackerley Sports Group (ASG) that will apparently result in a reported R1.42 billion ($75 million) investment.

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However, some aspects of the negotiations have been met with questions and resistance from local franchises, and a big question has revolved around how it will impact the local game, and whether it would all be positive.

Bulls boss Jake White, for one, has questioned whether it would really help to bring overseas-based Springboks and other top players back to South Africa.

“I’m not sure that, even if we have all the money in the world, it’s going to mean the top players come back in droves,” the Bulls director of rugby said ahead of Saturday’s URC derby with the Lions at Ellis Park. 

“It has to be a policy. It’s been broadcasted quite widely by Rassie Erasmus that having overseas-based players coached by overseas coaches, and having those rich foreign clubs pay their salaries, is a model that works for us. “Money [locally] isn’t going to change that.”

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SA RUGBY RELEASED AN OPEN LETTER ON FRIDAY ABOUT THE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY THAT WOULD IMPACT THE SPRINGBOKS

By Rian Oberholzer, CEO, SA Rugby

That conversation is incomplete, and any agreement that may ultimate