No winners in SARU boardroom battles

To metamorphose a well-worn adage: 'The South African Rugby Union is fiddling while the country burns.'

That is the only conclusion one can draw if you closely follow the in-house battles that are busy splitting the national controlling body.

While all their rivals are planning for a year of success on the playing field, SARU's brains trust are engaged in a tug of war for the control of the national body.

The central figures are SARU President Oregan Hoskins and CEO Jurie Roux.

Media reports in the past fortnight have been littered with claims of conflict, disaccord and factionalism throughout SA Rugby.

Some provincial presidents have expressed their support for Hoskins. However, there are just as many reports claiming the majority of the provincial presidents are supporting Roux.

Frikkie Erasmus – the lawyer for Roux and Rassie Erasmus, the General Manager: High Performance Teams of SARU – is convinced the various agendas at play are doing untold damage to the brand that is SA Rugby.

Erasmus himself has been dragged into the saga when he was accused of inappropriately benefitting financially from supplying nutrition products to SARU.

In an extensive interview with rugby365 Erasmus pointed out numerous flaws in the reports accusing him of having sold these sports supplements to SARU for 'hundreds of thousands of rands' over the past two years – without paying SARU the standard license fee for using the valuable SA Rugby logo on these products.

He said it is all part of a campaign to discredit his client, as the boardroom battles go into overdrive.

And he is adamant rugby is suffering as a result of these boardroom battles.

"New Zealand know who is their coach, they have all their players in place," Erasmus said.

"Instead of us appointing a coach, who can start getting the players ready, they are occupying themselves with this rubbish," he said of finding a replacement for Heyneke Meyer, who was forced out late last year.

The appointment of the new Bok coach would most likely take place in late March or early April – with Ireland set to arrive in June for a three-Test series.

"I simply can't believe I am front page news, based on incorrect facts, while universities are burning and there are massive problems in the country, but those are relegated to Page Four," Roux said of the weekend reports that accused him of improper behaviour.

"People like Rassie [Erasmus] and Jurie [Roux] need to get things in place and plan for the incoming tour.

"Those guys [Ireland] are already playing [in the Six Nations].

"Before we can clear our eyes another year is gone and we are closer to the next World Cup.

"It is a great pity and while this is continuing, rugby is suffering."

Erasmus is adamant that nothing untoward happened in the whole supplement process.

"A year ago this was launched with much fanfare in the media and you won't do that if you have something to hide – that is absurd," he told rugby365.

He explained that  they imported products from America to the  World Cup at their own cost last year.

"We work on taking SA Rugby forward, into the future," he said, adding: "That is one thing about Rassie [Erasmus], his vision is to take SA Rugby forward and he always looks ahead to where he can improve the game, how can he get the guys [Springboks] ahead of New Zealand and Australia."

He also said that the delay in the situation with the University of Stellenbosch – who are accusing Roux of having been involved in the misappropriation of funds to the tune of ZAR35-million while employed there prior to joining SARU – is not their doing.

The accusations, based on a draft KPMG report, commissioned by the University of Stellenbosch, have also been central to the split in SARU.

"Jurie [Roux] wants to get to court," Erasmus said, adding: "He can't talk about it or say anything, so we want [the matter] to get to court as soon as possible.

"The summons was issued in June last year, we pointed out certain problems and it took them three months to correct.

"We asked for more documentation in December, and they have not produced that.

"If it is such a big amount, you would think they would want to get him in court as soon as possible.

"We have to make all the moves to get to court.

"I suspect that they hope by then he has thrown in the towel. The delay can be laid solely at the door of the university."

He said the accusations levelled at him in the supplement saga are more about sensation and people with clear agendas.

"There was a need identified by [former Springbok coach] Heyneke Meyer to get safe and clean supplements for the Springboks," he said, pointing out that this request came in the wake of the Chiliboy Ralepelle and Bjorn Basson doping saga in 2010 – when they were sent home after traces of a banned substances was found in a supplement used by the Bok squad.

"After a very comprehensive process it [the BokPulse range] was developed in conjunction DuPont [United States], one of the biggest multi-national chemicals and health care companies in the world, along with academics at the University of Stellenbosch biochemistry department.

"Instead of focusing on the positive aspects of the product, sensation is created around so-called hundreds of thousands in profit being made.

"It is an extremely expensive process as only the best products were used to ensure it is safe. Every batch produced is sent to LCC in London to be tested and certified to ensure there is nothing untoward.

"There has been so much written about the problem of illegal supplements at school level and this was developed with the view that it is also safe for the use of school boys."

Erasmus said it was developed at great cost and he would love to recoup the losses.

He also dismissed the notion that he is improperly benefitting from not paying for licensing of the product.

"This is not just a case of having the SARU branding plastered on a product, it is something that was specifically developed for SARU, at the request of management, who saw the need for a safe and clean product range.

"It is just logical that when you supply something to SA Rugby you don't pay royalties, because if you do you have to add that to the price to recoup that [the development costs]."

He added there has been nothing yet on which royalties can be paid.

Erasmus said there is "absolutely no doubt" there is an agenda surrounding the Jurie Roux saga.

"It will take me a week to explain it," he said, adding: It is unbelievable and I know who are behind this campaign.

"They just want their own people in place at SA Rugby [SARU].

"It is a continuous attack and a sad situation."

The next episode in the saga is set to play itself out in Johannesburg next week, where a meeting is expected to held under independent chairmanship with Hoskins not presiding.

There have been rumours of provincial presidents planning to bring a vote of no confidence against Hoskins.

Jan de Koning

@King365ed

@rugby365com