Flip van der Merwe
It has emerged that a contractual dispute with the South African Rugby Union (SARU) is the reason behind Vodacom Bulls lock Flip van der Merwe making himself unavailable for Springbok selection.
Bok coach Heyneke Meyer earlier this week said Van der Merwe was “unavailable for international rugby at the moment”.
The reasons behind Van der Merwe’s unavailability were described as “personal”.
However, Van der Merwe and SARU are at loggerheads because the player feels he was done an injustice when Springbok contacts were awarded.
Unlike lock partners Eben Etzebeth, Victor Matfield and Pieter-Steph du Toit, Van der Merwe apparently did not receive a similar national contract.
Van der Merwe will apparently only make himself available for Springbok selection once the dispute is settled.
Flip is the 2nd Springbok player involved in a contractual dispute with SARU in the last year. Cell C Sharks utility back Francois Steyn also made himself unavailable for the Springboks after failing to reach an agreement with SARU last season.
89 @ MacroSssss:
Your desperation to defend Flip has no bounds…
@ Angostura:
Details never disclosed by SARU, but we all understand that when overseas players picked for the Boks, there is a short term contract with a hefty remuneration, let alone a costly insurance applicable to Europe
When Pienaar got injured in a Test last season, SARU picked up the cost of his Op & Rehab
I remember a farce concerned Schalk Brits few seasons ago who travel to SA only to find his Test contract and insurance weren’t in place?
One needs to fish deep in these murky waters of SARU to get details, I can’t 😉
@ MacroSssss:
90
Bakki shouldn’t be picked imo
But that’s HM’s call,Bakkie still has the gas for a 40min Test rugby?
Let’s disregard the Oupa and the ‘others’ 😉
@ grootblousmile:
Is defending flip because we lack facts such a bad thing… Mob justice much?
93 @ Hondo:
Bakkies Botha has RETIRED, 1st from all International Rugby a few months ago (it was big in the news) and now he will retire from all rugby when the Euro Season ends soon, soon… (was also big in the news).
So, there is no way Bakkies will play for the Bokke in 2015, farkall!
What don’t you understand about that??
@ Hondo:
Bakkies has retired you fool
92 Hondo
The players that have Bok contracts (in the sense of a 1-year or 2-year retainer, irrespective of whether they play or not) are all players plying their trade locally. That is what the discussion is about – the retainer paid to local players, not the ad hoc match fees paid to expat saffas who are only available for a limited amount of Tests and over whom SARU has no jurisdiction whilst they are playing abroad.
94 @ MacroSssss:
What facts don’t we have?
He’s made HIMSELF unavailable to play for the Springboks…
In other words, he has deliberately opted to shun the Springboks in 2015.
Daar is GEEN veranderlikes daaraan nie!!
For whatever reason does not matter, at all…. whatsoever… hoenaaamd nie!!
Furthermore overseas boks do not receive contracts.
It’s standard practice to cover insurance and medical costs of players even the Baabaas do this.
92 @ Hondo:
Yep, does anyone really know how SARU contracting works?
Whether you like Pollard or not, it is clear he is in the future bok plans regardless of who is coach, so it is strange that he has not officially been offered a contract out in the public, but I suspect that there surely has to be some sort of agreement in place for him?
I think the 2015 Springbok contracts are also still being negotiated as well as there has been no press release this year that i can find, the last one was in January 2014?
grootblousmile wrote:
His reasons for not making himself available are personal reasons, what they are however I have no idea.
If it happens that he is not committed to playing for the boks for reasons as he wants a huge paycheck or he wants special treatment that no one else is getting, then so be it, let him go, good riddance and may he never be selected again.
Till then I have no idea what “personal reasons” entails.
101 @ MacroSssss:
Flip gaan toer saam met die Bulls volgende week vir ‘n maand, so die enigste gevolgtrekking wat ek daaroor kan maak is dat hy wedstryd gereed is.
So, watter persoonlike omstandighede sal voldoende verskoning daarstel??
Flippie gaan jou moer.
😆
103 @ gunther:
Ek hardloop nog mooi vinnig, so hy moet my eers vang… hehehe
Hy is mos vinnige met sy spiekop moustache.
105 @ gunther:
Bwahahaha
102 @ grootblousmile:
Ek het absoluut geen idea nie, maar op die stadium kan ek dit maar net respekteer tot die waarheid uit kom, en dit sal.
Het jy nog pers verklarings oor bok kontrakte?
al wat ek kan kry en bokke wat gekontrakteur is:
2013-04-24
Springbok contract group:
Willem Alberts – Sharks
Marcell Coetzee – Sharks
Juan de Jongh – Western Province
Jean de Villiers – Western Province
Bismarck du Plessis – Sharks
Jannie du Plessis – Sharks
Eben Etzebeth – Western Province
Francois Hougaard – Blue Bulls
Pat Lambie – Sharks
Tendai Mtawarira – Sharks
Pierre Spies – Blue Bulls
Frans Steyn – Sharks
Adriaan Strauss – Free State Cheetahs
Flip van der Merwe – Blue Bulls
Duane Vermeulen – Western Province
2014-01-24
The seven newly-contracted players are
Marcell Coetzee (loose forward),
JJ Engelbrecht (centre/wing),
Francois Hougaard (scrumhalf),
Patrick Lambie (flyhalf/fullback),
Willie le Roux (fullback/wing),
Coenie Oosthuizen (prop)
Flip van der Merwe (lock).
Those players previously contracted were:
Willem Alberts (loose forward),
Jean de Villiers (centre),
Bismarck du Plessis (hooker),
Jannie du Plessis (prop),
Eben Etzebeth (lock),
Siya Kolisi (loose forward),
Tendai Mtawarira (prop),
Frans Steyn (utility back),
Adriaan Strauss (hooker)
Duane Vermeulen (No 8).
So from what we heard so far this year without anything official
Flip’s contract was not renewed
Apparantly Vic and PSDT and who knows who else were offered contracts for 2015 combined with those that 2 year contracts from 2014.
I have to agree with Hondo, there seems to be secrecy around bok contracts.
The Flip rumour goes:
“However, according to Netwerk24, Van der Merwe and SARU are at loggerheads because the players feels he was done an injustice when Springbok contacts were awarded.
Unlike lock partners Eben Etzebeth, Victor Matfield and Pieter-Steph du Toit, Van der Merwe apparently did not receive a similar national contract.”
Now there is no public of record of PSDT being contracted with the Springboks
Also Jourie Roux said this last year (January):
“But Roux says they’ve not been in discussion with Matfield at all.
“He definitely has not been offered a contract from Saru. Currently, it’s between the Bulls and Victor Matfield. Victor will have to prove himself through playing with the Bulls and getting into the Super Rugby team. After that, if he’s confident and successful enough, it’s dependent on the selectors and the coach whether they select him for the Springbok team or not.”
then radio silence…
@ Angostura:
97
So what are the options available to HM?
a. Awarding a contract to players who will not be selected initially and who may not participated in the RWC?
Or
b. Binding an Overseas player (or overseas bound) with a contract , Ruan Pienaar and Louw are on such a contract/agreement, I doubt this is an Ad Hoc type?
107 @ MacroSssss:
From a report dated Oct 5, 2014:
“The contracted Springboks are:
Willem Alberts (loose forward),
Marcell Coetzee (loose forward),
Damian de Allende (centre/wing),
Jean de Villiers (centre),
Bismarck du Plessis (hooker),
Jannie du Plessis (prop),
JJ Engelbrecht (centre/wing),
Eben Etzebeth (lock),
Cornal Hendricks (wing),
Francois Hougaard (scrumhalf),
Siya Kolisi (loose forward),
Patrick Lambie (flyhalf/fullback),
Willie le Roux (fullback/wing),
Victor Matfield (lock),
Tendai Mtawarira (prop),
Coenie Oosthuizen (prop),
Jan Serfontein (centre),
Adriaan Strauss (hooker),
Flip van der Merwe (lock)
and Duane Vermeulen (No 8).”
http://thebulls.co.za/news/2014/10/05/boks-in-camp/
As you can see-
1. No Frans Steyn (because he made himself unavailable for Bok selection);
2. And Flip vdM was still there, because his contract was due to expire end of 2014 only.
Came 2015, if reports are to believed, the contracts of Eben and Vic were renewed/extended, & PSDT was awarded a contract, but not Flip.
It seems as if SARU & Flip could not agree terms for a new 12-month contract, & that Flip consequently made himself unavailable for Bok selection. That’s a pity, because both the Bokke & Flip are now imo worse off in this crucial 2015 WC year.
We are not aware on what point negotiations faltered, but it is almost certainly contractual remuneration. But contracts cannot be awarded at any price, I’m sure you’ll agree.
I think, as was the case with Frans Steyn, Flip has probably now ‘cooked his goose’. He has some SR & CC games left for the Bulls, but then it is off to Clermont (probably) for the remainder of his career.
Such is life – potential contracts often fail to materialise because of a failure of meeting of minds.
@ MacroSssss:
100
My thinking too
Bottom line is SARU has no defined policy about contracting Boks for whatever reason, even during Oberholzer tenure there were plenty of contract court cases
Consistency isn’t there though, both Styen and SB played in Japan while on Boks Contract?
Hondo wrote:
Again, substantiate your claims that Ruan Pienaar & Francois Louw are contracted Bokke. We cannot just accept your word for it. Back it up, mon. Give us a credible source or a link or something.
88
As for what HM is to do, he can select in Flip’s stead any other local or expat saffa lock his heart desires who MAY BE available for Bok selection, provided, I imagine, SARU approves (Seems like a new-fangled procedure is developing where the Bok coach can’t simply assume that a local saffa rugby player aspires to & is available for Bok selection) 🙂
“Show me the Money” first, nê?
Hondo wrote:
I am not aware of any announcement of a Bok contract for SB.
Steyn was awarded a Bok contract before he went to Japan, & he did so with the blessing of the Sharks & SARU on condition he returns to play SR.
@ Angostura:
Foreign based players don’t get bok contracts that’s saru policy.
I’m not sure why Hondo can’t understand that.
He likes to make himself look like he has some inside info but the reality is that he’s got nothing.
@ gunther:
Yip
@ Angostura:
By the latest Feb this year he already did not have a contract. There would have been an impasse for the last 4 months where no agreement could be reached. Meanwhile from Jan 2014 till October 2014, Hendricks, De Allende and Vic all received bok contracts at that stage.
However since then we have no idea who’s contracts have expired, renewed or been offered for the last 7 months.
Now part of the rumour that Flip is unavailable because of a contractual dispute is that PSDT has also been offered a contract, of which there is no official statement, thereby casting doubt on the validity?
Like I said earlier, if Flip is being unreasonable with his demands he must go and end his bok career on a low…then cheers
Off Topic:
1. Mark Shuttleworth wins landmark case against Reserve Bank
http://m.mg.co.za/article/2014-10-01-billionaire-wins-landmark-case-against-sa-reserve-bank
2. The vagaries of politics – David Cameron’s Tories unexpectedly win the election with an outright majority resulting in the resignation of the leaders of 3 of the main opposition parties: Ed Miliband, LP, Nick Clegg, LDP, & Nigel Farage, UKIP.
Angostura wrote:
113
So there you are, ruling for one is applicable to all
It might be naive to believe there is no binding whatsoever for Pienaar, Louw and possibly FdP with SARU to secure their services at the RWC imo?
@ Hondo:
love him or hate him, what about Pollard, he seems to be the only guy not getting a contract even though he is clearly in the plans.
MacroSssss wrote:
He’s biding his time till after the WC and getting Bok caps under his belt
He’s not worried about squeezing a few Rands out of SARU at the present
Barring injury he’ll have a very big payday in Europe or even Japan after the next WC
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