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Fleck pitches sweeping behind-the-scenes change for South African rugby

Former Stormers head coach Robbie Fleck is keen to see more private ownership in SA rugby. (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)

Despite recently departing his role as head coach at the Stormers, former Springbok centre Robbie Fleck has not shied away from giving his thoughts on how South African rugby needs to move forward over the coming years, particularly in regard to private ownership.

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South African rugby has perennially struggled to keep hold of its best players, as the money on offer in Europe and Japan far outweighs what SA Rugby can offer to keep them at home. With a domestic-based international selection policy also scrapped, the incentives on offer abroad are enticing to players.

Speaking to Netwerk24 in South Africa, Fleck has thrown his weight behind the growing trend in the country of privatisation of the Super Rugby franchises.

“The business sector needs to invest in the franchises to help them survive by creating structures whereby we protect our assets.

“Everyone needs to realise that the game is not going to survive without financial investment and business-level expertise. All the franchises need to be open to it and shift their egos to one side. It’s not about ‘my way’ of doing. We all have to work together to the advantage of South African rugby.”

It is not without precedent, either, with the Bulls franchise currently being 74% in the hands of private ownership, with Patrice Motsepe and the African Rainbow Company owning 37% and Johann Rupert and Remgro also owning 37%.

Away from Super Rugby, the Southern Kings, who play in the Guinness PRO14, are also 74% privately owned – the maximum allowed by the SA Rugby constitution – following its acquisition by a consortium named ‘The Greatest Rugby Company in the Whole Wide World Ltd’ in 2019.

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In the case of the Bulls, the Pretoria-based franchise have boasted a financial superiority to the other unions in South Africa in recent years, although that has yet to translate to success on the field, with the Lions having led the way in Super Rugby of late. As for the Kings, they were able to recruit this past offseason at a level they have previously not been able to and are hopeful of a more competitive future in the PRO14.

SA Rugby recently announced an overhaul to their contracting model, which moves away from central contracts and puts the players’ contracts in the hands of their respective unions. It is a move that is only likely to further encourage private investment in the country’s Super Rugby franchises, especially with the nation currently flying high after their recent Rugby World Cup success.

Watch: Has Cooney surpassed Murray as Ireland’s starting scrum-half?

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Flankly 2 hours ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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