'Jobless' South Africans in the Premiership
SPOTLIGHT: In the wake of the theatrical revelation that another English club is about to go under, the human cost of the cash crunch has escaped the spotlight.
The financial crisis gripping English rugby has worsened with Wednesday’s revelation that Wasps, one of the English game’s most storied clubs, is likely to enter into administration because of their debts.
Wasps were suspended from the Premiership by England’s Rugby Football Union on Wednesday, a week after another top-flight club, Worcester Warriors, was placed in compulsory liquidation as they were pursued for unpaid tax.
Five South African players, only one of them not a Springbok, were left ‘jobless’ and with uncertain futures in the process.
The Wasps squad have four players from the Republic – World Cup-winning Springbok prop Vincent Koch, along with fellow Boks Francois Hougaard and Nizaam Carr.
The fourth is Burger Odendaal, the only non-Springbok of the group.
Burger is the most distressing of the ‘jobless’ tales – having given up the captaincy of the Ellis Park-based Lions to move north in the hope of a more lucrative future.
Having played more than 100 games for the Bulls and also captaining the Pretoria-based franchise, the 29-year-old moved south across the Jukskei and revived his career at Ellis Park – leading to the Wasps offer.
Now he is searching for a new gig, just over a month after having made the first of his four Wasps appearances.
Koch, 32, a valued member of the 2019 World Cup-winning Bok team, also moved to Wasps in the off-season. He made the move from Saracens, where he played 100-plus games since he joined them in 2016.
He is unlikely to have trouble finding a new place, given his stature and form.
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Nizaam Carr, 31 and capped five times by the Boks, signed a three-month deal to join Wasps in October 2017. He rejoined the team on a full-time basis after the 2018 Super Rugby season.
In June 2020, Carr returned to South Africa to rejoin the Bulls ahead of their entry into the United Rugby Championship.
However, a year later it was announced that Carr would once again return to Wasps, after the conclusion of his Currie Cup commitments with the Bulls.
His future also remains uncertain.
Hougaard, 34 and capped 46 times by his country, ironically arrived at Wasps via Worcester Warriors.
In February 2016, Hougaard signed a short-term contract with the Warriors for the remainder of the 2015–2016 season In March 2016, it was announced that Hougaard signed a permanent contract with the team.
Hougaard left Worcester to join Premiership rivals Wasps ahead of the 2021–22 season.
* Francois Venter is another player left in limbo and contemplating a return home, to South Africa.
In March 2018, it was announced that Venter, 31 and capped seven times, would join the Warriors on a two-year contract – from the 2018–19 season.
On October 5 all Worcester players had their contacts terminated due to the liquidation of the company to which they were contracted.
Venter has made more than 50 appearances for the Warriors.
Fellow South Africa, Scottish-capped Duhan van der Merwe – brother of Springbok hooker Armand van der Merwe – has returned to his former team, Edinburgh.
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