VIDEO: Stormers reveal their 'unpopular' road ahead
The Stormers’ equity partners, management and coaching staff are ‘aligned’ on the way forward, even if it is not a popular route.
That means spending money on aspects that will contribute to long-term success, rather than short-term accomplishment.
“We are not trying to buy success in the short term, by bringing in players from outside the region,” Stormers CEO Johan le Roux told @king365ed in an exclusive interview.
In the wide-ranging one-on-one, the Stormers boss also revealed that Director of Rugby and coach John Dobson has ‘cover’ from his employers, who operate on a ‘restricted’ budget.
Other hot-button topics addressed include the troublesome calendar, which leaves the Currie Cup in a vulnerable position, the South African Rugby Union’s much-maligned changes to the Test-match hosting model, the Stormers’ approach to player recruitment, financial stability and the unpopular rebranding.
(WATCH as @king365ed sits down for an exclusive one-on-one with Stormers CEO Johan le Roux, chatting about rebranding, recruiting, financial stability, the SARU Test model and Currie Cup future…..)
The rebrand – It has been a long time coming
With the brand almost 30 years old and the many changes in how media is consumed, the Stormers’ equity owners felt it was important that the brand stays relevant.
“It hasn’t been refreshed since 1998,” Le Roux said.
“It was time for an overhaul and needed to move away, slightly, from being a purely rugby brand and move to something more contemporary.
“The team did a good job with it.”
Responding to the expected pushback from the ‘traditionalists’, he said those who don’t support change are usually more vocal than those who do.
“We took note of the small number of comments on social media.
“It is important to have conviction in what you do and plan it well.
“I am sure what we are doing is the right thing, and we are doing it for the right reasons.
“This will filter through to the other clubs [franchises] as well.
“They are looking at what their brand identity and corporate identity look like.
“This might start a wave of change in the industry.
“You can’t stand still in an ever-evolving environment.
“We are competing with E-Sports and cage fighting [MMA/UFC] as much as we are competing with soccer.
“What happens on the field is not our only job. It is how we package it and stay relevant.”
His message to the traditionalists is to remember that it’s about the team, and they will do their best to ensure the team, the Stormers, stay successful.
Le Roux said they also don’t see their past, the Newlands saga, as a negative or something to put to pasture.
“We are very proud of our Newlands heritage,” he told @rugby365com.
“We see our logo as inclusive of our history, with the blue and white hoops of Western Province.
“Only one team in the world has blue and white hoops.
“The new logo is a very strong symbol of the past and the future.
“The old logo had very little to do with Western Province, where the Stormers were born out of.”
Being profitable … finally
The Stormers, before the Red Disa equity deal, were consistently operating with a significant annual shortfall.
In 2016, Western Province Rugby (Pty) Limited was placed into liquidation by the Western Cape High Court, in the wake of the infamous Aerios saga.
Despite a name change to WP Professional Rugby (Pty) Ltd, the financial woes of the Cape Town-based franchise, run by amateur clubs of the Western Province Rugby Football Union, did not improve.
The situation became so dire that in October 2021, the South African Rugby Football Union placed WPRFU under administration due to the union being practically bankrupt.
Then, a year ago, the Red Disa equity was concluded when a consortium of investors led by Cape Town-based Fynbos Ekwiteit and including Ardagh Glass Packaging and Marble Head Investments acquired a controlling (74 percent) shareholding in WP Professional Rugby (Pty) Ltd (since renamed Stormers Rugby (Pty) Ltd).
And last month, the Stormers CEO, Le Roux, revealed that they were profitable for the first time since 2017.
“It will be a modest profit for the 2025 financial year, which closed in June,” the proud Stormers boss declared.
By far the biggest contributing factor was hosting an All Black Test in Cape Town on September 7 last year with South Africa beating New Zealand for a fourth consecutive time.
That was before SARU took over control of hosting internationals, allowing the Stormers to employ their commercial model.
“It was a fantastic [financial] result for us and allowed us to get our commercial programme up to speed,” he told @rugby365com.
“The 2025 year was based on strong ticket sales, the strongest we had in the URC, a strong All Black Test, and cost control.
“On the rugby side, we rationalised. We cut back our squad.
“We went for another round of cuts this year, after the [2024/25] season, which will put us in a strong position to repeat the profitability for the current financial year that ends in June 2026.”
SARU Test model
In 2025, SARU, controversially, changed the Test hosting model, taking back the rights from domestic unions and franchises.
Initially part of the failed equity deal with ASG, the new model caused significant disagreements.
The original model saw unions and franchises pay a fee to host a Test and keep the profits. Now, SARU pays the unions a flat fee and keeps the profits, resulting in a significantly reduced income for the unions and franchises.
“It will have a very big impact on us, in the current financial year,” he said of the 2025/26 budget.
“It is less than half of what we would have made if we hosted the Test,” Le Roux said about the reduced fee, described as a ‘quantum leap’ in loss of income.
“It influences what we can do on the rugby side, because we have less to work with.”
He said they made up the shortfall in Test match revenue by improving their sponsorship income.
“Despite the setback on the Test model, which had a very negative effect on us, we should still deliver a small profit in our current financial year.
“The Test model change had a different impact on the unions.
“The bigger cities with bigger stadiums host more profitable Test matches.
“The impact would be bigger on the Stormers [55,000-seater stadium] and Lions [62,000-seater Ellis Park].”
With their rugby programme, players and coaches, the biggest drain on their budget, which means the loss of revenue is passed straight on to that department of the company.
“It limits our ability to be in the market for what the other franchises are doing,” he said in reference to the recruitment drives of the Sharks and Bulls, shopping for big-name players and returning Springboks to bolster the squad.
“Our focus has to be more organic, due to financial considerations.”
Recruitment on a modest budget
The Stormers’ list of departures ahead of the 2025/26 season looks like the who-is-who of the game – Herschel Jantjies (to Bayonne), Brok Harris (retired), Ben Loader (Gloucester), Joseph Dweba (Exeter Chiefs), Paul de Wet (Bulls), Angelo Davids (Lions), Manie Libbok (Liners) and, of course, Steven Kitshoff (retired).
The incoming list is a lot shorter – Cobus Reinach, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Ruan Ackermann, and Hencus van Wyk.
“We are quite selective,” Le Roux told @king365ed, adding: “Our model means we have to work within the financial framework of what we can generate to be profitable.
“We are focusing on youth, playing to our strengths.
“So many of the top schools in the country sit in our region.
“We have the two universities that contested the Varsity Cup Final this year, and we have a very strong club system.
“It is logical for us to focus on the youth.”
The Stormers Academy, shut down during the dark days when the amateur clubs ran rampant with the finances, will be reinstated from next year.
The first intake will include names like the Paarl Gimnasium duo of centre Markus Muller and loose forward Quintin Potgieter, Rondebosch Boys loose forward Alutha Wesi, centre Randall-John Davids and prop Matt van der Merwe, wing Jordan Steenkamp, hooker Altus Rabe and loose forward Gert Kemp from Paul Roos, Wynberg Boys flyhalf Yaqeen Ahmed, Boland Landbou scrumhalf Jayden Brits and Grey College lock AJ Meyer.
“We are very excited,” Le Roux said about the 2026 intake.
“There is no doubt that [young players] are our focus.”
The Stormers boss admitted it will take a while for those players to contribute at the URC level, and only the superstars like Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu can make it as 19-year-olds.
“We must stay competitive while we are bringing these youngsters into the system.
“We are fairly confident that the crop of players we have – we keep them together – we’ll be competitive.
“We will go into the market where we have a crisis. It could be injury-driven or losing players to the overseas market.
“In those cases, we will go to market, and we have the resources to ensure we can bring back the quality like a Cobus Reinach.”
While the ‘cash up front’ may not always be what players can get elsewhere, the Stormers can offer other better benefits, like the rugby programme, the city, and the fans, to make it a very compelling offer.
“There are a lot of incoming calls, people who want to come back, but our framework is 100 percent focused on getting the foundation right first.
“If there is a crisis, we will selectively recruit from the outside.”
Asked how Dobson is expected to be competitive in Europe, with cash-flush teams like Stade Francais and Leinster, to name but two, he said the equity partners have taken a long-term view, working towards 2029.
“From that point on, continuous competitiveness at the top, meaning Champions Cup, is a prerequisite,” he told @rugby365com.
“The focus is on the youth, the structures, the coaching environment, and the HPC [High Performance Centre in Belville].
“We are spending money on things we know will contribute to long-term success.”
The Stormers boss admitted that anything short of reaching the play-offs would be unacceptable to the demanding fans in Cape Town.
“That [reaching the play-offs] is something Dobbo [head coach John Dobson] is aware of and we need to ensure we have a team in place that can at least maintain that level of competitiveness.
“We are not trying to buy success in the short term by bringing in players from outside the region.
“We are trying to ensure long-term success by putting structures in place and bringing local players through those structures.
“The ownership [Red Disa equity consortium], Dobbo [Dobson], and I [as CEO] are closely aligned with that.
“Dobbo has ‘cover’ and he knows what he has to do.”
Le Roux believes they do have a team to ‘compete’ and are disappointed to have lost in last year’s quarterfinal to Glasgow Warriors.
“It is not a team that feels they are outgunned when they take on European opposition,” he said, adding: “This squad can achieve a lot more than what they did last year.”
The Currie Cup conundrum
Le Roux admitted that their strategy in the Currie Cup, to bolster the coaching side and bring in some Sevens players, was not a success.
However, the calendar is the biggest challenge preventing them from putting a bigger emphasis on the domestic scene.
“The reality of where the Currie Cup sits in the season makes it impossible to field first-tier URC players,” the CEO said.
“The Currie Cup in this [July, August] window is going to serve up this challenge every year.
“We will keep fielding our players sitting outside the core URC group.
“The stronger the juniors you bring through, the quicker they will be able to compete at this level.
“You will still have a matchday squad feature Under-21 and some Under-19 players, facing men who played a full SA Cup, like the Pumas and Griquas.
“We will continue to struggle, but what we look for is perhaps not overall success in the competition, but individuals confirming themselves as players for the future and understanding how much time certainly players need before they can compete.
“We see it as an opportunity to develop players.
“Guys like Zachary Porthen, Oliver Reid, and Riley Norton have already shown they are ready to play at a higher level.
“The Currie Cup, as an environment to show that, is a lot more valuable than letting these guys go dominate in an Under-19 competition.
“We and the coaching staff are aligned with that.
“We would love to field a stronger team [in the Currie Cup], but we can’t do that without compromising the URC.
“In our hierarchy of importance, the URC is our focus.”
@king365ed
@rugby365com
Related articles
OPINION: Why it’s the right move
Red Disa EXCLUSIVE – Part Three
Red Disa EXCLUSIVE – Part Two
Red Disa EXCLUSIVE – Part One
Stormers get equity deal over the line
People & details behind Stormers equity deal
Seeing through #NEWLANDS smoke and mirrors
