Bulls coach Jake White's scathing attack on player agents amid SA rugby talent exodus

Bulls coach Jake White has continued his crusade to try and keep the cream of South Africa’s rugby talent in South Africa after a scathing rant directed at some of the players’ agents.

Over the last few years former World Cup-winning Springboks coach White has been vocal about the need for the country’s top franchises to keep their top Boks from going abroad in order to compete in competitions such as the United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup.

But his voice has grown louder on the issue over the last few weeks, especially after reports that quite a number of top Springboks are trying to get out of their current deals in South Africa to pursue lucrative offers in places like Japan.

White has been upset about the speculation surrounding the future of star Kurt-Lee Arendse, who was granted a sabbatical this season to play his rugby in Japan.

Recent reports suggest that Arendse is looking to make his short-term deal with Mitsubishi DynaBoars permanent, even though he still has over a year left on his current contract with the Bulls.

The Stormers are currently involved in a bit of a standoff with Springboks flank Ben-Jason Dixon, with the player reportedly looking to get out of his current contract, saying he has an “exit clause”.

Flyhalf Manie Libbok is another Bok looking to move with time left on his contract, and has been linked to a possible switch to Japan. 

It was clear to see the fire in White’s eyes when asked about the influence of player agents, saying that the franchises need to stand their ground and not be bullied because they are the ones paying the players’ salaries.

“Agents are genuinely not worried about the player,” White said. “They just want the deal.

“They will always hammer that it’s their client, but I want to turn this around: We [the unions] are the client. If we don’t pay the players, there is no deal.

“So this thing where agents say: ‘I look after my client’, doesn’t hold water. The client is the union that pays the salaries.”

In 2018, when Rassie Erasmus took over the Springboks, SA Rugby changed its eligibility rules for players wanting to represent the Boks. Before that only players who plied their trade in the country could wear the green and gold.

In the past mostly older players looking for a last pay day went to play overseas with the rest competing for a Springbok jersey. But now players as 19 or 20 years old are heading abroad to make a living, which necessitated the change to keep the Springboks strong.

And it has largely worked. With most of the top Boks playing abroad, it has given the opportunity for the next rung of players to play high-level rugby.

But now White is concerned that more and more players will choose to ply their trade elsewhere in the world, leaving the local franchises to dig even deeper down the South African rugby well.

“When agents have a mandate to send players overseas and still be eligible to play for their country, it’s like a freebie for them, let’s be fair,” White said.

“Other agents in other countries can’t send their players overseas because they won’t be eligible to play for their country.

“I’ve got first-hand appreciation of the fact that when agents got a free pass to send guys overseas, make money and still be eligible to be selected to play for their country, then they would do it. But they’re not helping the provinces.

“We need to be careful. Should Kurt-Lee [Arendse] go, we will just start a whole new cycle of the next generation going … at the end of the day, we want to keep the cream playing every weekend together in our franchises.”

@JohnGoliath82