Why the Spears face uphill battle

In 1979, Natal embarked on a policy of bolstering their ranks by luring top class players from other provinces.

At the start of that year, Free State flyhalf De Wet Ras and Transvaal’s big Springbok lock Kevin de Klerk were among the top names that moved to Durban. De Klerk played one game and then retired (he came out of retirement when he was back in Johannesburg the following year), but Ras stayed for a season.

The arrival of Wynand Claassen, Mark Loane and others ensured that 1980 was also a good year for the then Banana Boys. A decade later, their policy of buying players played a not insignificant part in netting the province her first Currie Cup trophy in Natal’s centenary year.

While Maritzburg College product Joel Stransky kicked the goals that mattered and Tony Watson scored the winning try, Natal would not have won the Currie Cup that year without Wahl Bartmann (Transvaal), Guy Kebble (Western Province), Tom Lawton (Australia) and Rudi Visagie (Free State), all of whom were newcomers who helped make Craig Jamieson’s team competitive at forward.

There were other provinces that also used the cheque-book in those “shamatuer” days, most notably Transvaal, who in 1987 managed to lure the two Du Plessis brothers, Carel and Michael, from Western Province.

Of course, in the professional era, all the provinces and regional teams rely heavily on players produced outside of the area. It is the way of professional sport, and while it has changed ever so slightly since Dick Muir took over as coach and started placing an emphasis on the development of young talent, the Sharks have more “outsiders” in the squad than home-grown players.

But while the Sharks, like all the provinces, are able to recruit players from outside, what has changed in recent years, and which is so different from 20 years ago, is the quality of the import being brought in.

If you look at the off-season gains made by provinces and regional teams like the Sharks and Western Province (Stormers), you have to admit that in most cases the people who are moving are either your regular journeymen or young players spotted by talent scouts who won’t provide an immediate return on the investment.

Joe van Niekerk did move to the Stormers from the Lions a couple of years back and Bryan Habana crossed the Jukskei more recently to link up with the Bulls, but at the moment most of the star players are staying where they are.

As Western Province Director of Rugby Nick Mallett and Sharks commercial manager Rudolf Straeuli are discovering, there is a good reason for this: The provinces are looking after their top players and are contracting players who show real promise not for just one season, but for three.

Most of the top Stormers players signed up for this year are signed up for the next three. It is the same with the Sharks. And at the Bulls, the draw-card of Heyneke Meyer’s winning culture has made it almost impossible for potential poachers to gain anything from Pretoria.

WP tried last year with some of the Bulls second string locks and got nowhere, and it was a similar story for the Sharks. The bottom line is that players are being contracted for longer periods now, and luring them away is a lot more difficult than it used to be.

And this is where the Southern Spears, due to be introduced as South Africa’s fifth Super 14 franchise, are going to battle. The Spears team that played the Cheetahs last weekend had no players who boasted any Super 14 experience to speak of, and while there is a lot of youth and promise, a 48-0 defeat in their opener showed just how far the Spears have to travel if they want to be a competitive Super 14 unit.

The legend has grown that the Spears have money and that the franchise that finishes last among the South African teams in this year’s Super 14 will just lose all their players en-masse to the Port Elizabeth team.

But both Mallett and Straeuli have told me they have most of their players under contract for a couple of years, and they are not going to allow them to move. The attitude will be the same at the other provinces, and it needs to be noted that the competition agreement, which facilitates a sharing of resources among the SA teams competing in the Super 14, will not apply to a franchise that is no longer in the competition.

So where are the Spears going to get the players from? It is a good question, and the lack of a real answer means it is going to be interesting to see how quickly the young, promising team currently playing under Pieter de Villiers can develop into a competent one. He may not be able to buy a top team, so his challenge is to create one.