Transfers – Why the boss of the South African federation is campaigning for a transfer system in Rugby

The subject regularly arises in discussions at counters and corridors: could rugby one day adopt a transfer system, similar to that in force in football? If the movements of rugby players under contract, possible in return for compensation, have become part of current practice, they still remain in the minority. A rare thing in this area, a voice was raised to call for a global revolution in this area: that of the general director of SA Rugby Rian Oberholzer. According to the manager, the future of rugby union is at stake, in South Africa at least, while hundreds of national players play abroad, in France and Japan, obviously, but also in Russia. or even in the United States. In the eyes of Rian Oberholzer, this exported raw material, in quotes, should at the very least allow South African rugby to enrich itself. However, this return on investment does not exist, for the moment, or only marginally: “There is a very important aspect of professionalism that we have not yet really understood in rugby: the transfer system, he said on the To The Last Drop podcast. This allows clubs to be paid for the development of players and which ensures that they become assets rather than liabilities. Because at the moment, players are liabilities in South African rugby, not assets. The sooner we can put a proper transfer system in place – similar to that which exists in football for example, the sooner we can solve many of our other problems. »

“We can’t just have four teams”

If the South African selection, double reigning world champion, is a dream showcase, the state of club rugby there calls out to the Director General of the Federation: “We must not believe that we can only have four professional teams in South Africa (Bulls, Sharks, Stormers, Lions, N.D.L.R.). Because of our talent pool and training, we produce a lot of players who want to play and consider themselves professionals. Can we put in place a structure that allows us to accommodate the majority of them? I think so. I think we need to look at the number of professional players we have, the salaries and the salary cap. […] On the other hand, the local provinces which see their former young people leave for France or Japan do not receive compensation. »

If Rian Oberholzer’s speech opens the debate a little wider, the implementation of such a system remains a considerable area of ​​reflection and regulation. Could we go so far as to create transfer windows? Establish a global training compensation model? All this being sprinkled with a second, more philosophical reflection on player monetization…