Handré Pollard
The Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd on Tuesday confirmed that flyhalf Handré Pollard has been given permission to join Japanese outfit NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes for a 3 month spell at the end of the year.
Pollard will join the club in November 2015 and will return to Loftus Versfeld at the end of January 2016, in good time for the 2016 Vodacom Super Rugby season that starts in mid-February.
“Handré is contracted to the Bulls till the end of 2017 and we are already in talks, with assistance from SARU, to extend that to 2019,” said Blue Bulls Company High Performance Manager, Xander Janse van Rensburg.
“Handre had a clause in his contract to go to Japan and we are happy to release him for that. In the end, it will give us more leeway to keep Handré at the Vodacom Bulls for an extended period.”
Die Blou Bulle Maatskappy (Edms) Bpk het Dinsdag bevestig dat losskakel Handré Pollard goedkeuring ontvang het om vir 3 maande vir die Japanese klub, NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes, te gaan uitdraf. Pollard sal in November daar aanmeld en weer einde Januarie na Loftus Versfeld terugkeer vir die 2016 Vodacom Super Rugby seisoen, wat middel Februarie begin.
“Handré is nog tot einde 2017 by ons gekontrakteer en ons is reeds besig, met behulp van SARU, om dit tot 2019 te verleng,” het die Blou Bulle Maatskappy se Hoë Prestasiebestuurder, Xander Janse van Rensburg, bevestig.
“Hy het nog heeltyd ‘n Japan-opsie in sy kontrak gehad en as dit beteken dat ons hom sodoende langer by die Bulls kan hou en die voordeel uit ‘n moontlike verlengde kontrak kan trek, gaan ons beslis nie in sy pad staan om daardie opsie uit te oefen nie,” sê Janse van Rensburg.
OK, 19 new articles added… time to go rest!
See ya in the morning!
Jeeez, players are flooding overseas… and to Japan!
The Japan okes does not worry me too much, as we get most back to play Super Rugby, but dang, the European lot is a serious worry, and reaching momentous proportions!
Meyer has opened a Pandoras box with picking overseas players…in the case of playing in Japan..a can of sardines/tuna
Net nog ‘n huursoldaat.
grootblousmile wrote:
I was about to say the very same thing, going to Japan may even be good for SARugby as it allows the youngsters to get an opportunity in the Currie Cup, and in most cases the players are back for the Super Rugby competition.
As long as they are available for the Super Rugby competition and 4 Nations championship that’s fine with me.
The European move is, as you say, very worrying.
If I were SARU I would make a provision that players will not be selected for the Springboks unless they are available to represent an SA franchise in the Super Rugby tournament.
If Pollard has a good RWC he will most likely go to Toulon or some other big Europian club within the next 2 years and i doubt whether there is anything that can be done to stop it. Same applies to other young potential superstars like de Allende, Etsebeth……. (Damn. I was trying to think of more but realised that we do not really have any others who are in that league)
@ robzim:
Well they will almost certainly go if they know that they will still play for the Boks, hence my support for a ban on Overseas based players, or as least a local participation requirement.
@ robzim:
The only way to stop the exodus is for the SR franchises to get mega sponsorships along with SARU to be able to match the salaries being offered in Europe and Japan. But that is a pipe dream.
@ Lion4ever:
I am not entirely convinced that this is true. In the case of Rugby SARU pay the larger portions of players contracts, and therefor can contract players for periods which can legally exclude them from playing in other countries during that period.
If you sign an Eben Etsebeth in to a 3 year contract then you know he will be here for at least that time.
If he moves at the end of his contract then fine, but no more Boks and no more Bok contract money.
No one is irreplaceable. Take Eben. There is Lood DeJager, PSDT and others waiting for an opportunity (Ruan Botha) to take his place.
I cannot think that we have such little depth that we have to rely on one player under any circumstance.
Fly-halves Jantjies, Lambie, Pollard, we have options.
I think we should take an emphatic position as the other SH countries do. It works for them it will work for us.
@ Stormersboy:
I believe we should pick the best available players, but also agree that no single player is irreplaceable. A balance needs to be struck between using available overseas players and locally based players.
grootblousmile wrote:
It’s because the Bulls management is crap
Even Vleis said Ludeke kept playing inferior players
http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Super15/Moving-to-Bulls-a-big-mistake-Vleis-20150624
Moving to Bulls a big mistake – Vleis
Cape Town – Loose forward Jacques “Vleis” Engelbrecht says signing with the Bulls was the biggest mistake of his rugby career.
The 30-year-old was a star for the Kings when they played Super Rugby in 2013 before joining the Bulls later that year.
His career nosedived in Pretoria though, where a lack of game time left him frustrated.
Engelbrecht mainly played Vodacom Cup rugby for the Blue Bulls this year and has been loaned to the EP Kings for this year’s Currie Cup.
Engelbrecht’s contract with the Bulls only expires next year, but he is hoping to impress for the Kings in the Currie Cup in order for them to try sign him for next year’s Super Rugby competition.
“To be honest, moving to Pretoria was not worth it,” he told Netwerk24. “I did learn a few things there, but to be in a pecking order when you know you are better than some of the players ahead of you – that’s not always nice.
“I was honest with the coach (Frans Ludeke) and told him. It’s the biggest mistake I made to sign for the Bulls.
“I had to almost ask to get a chance. There was a chance overseas (in Super Rugby) last year, but overall it wasn’t worth it.”
5 & 9 @ Stormersboy:
I agree fullheartedly!!
Fark, we must stop agreeing with each other so much… hehehe
I specifically agree that the main requirement MUST BE that you have to play Super Rugby (or the Nation’s prime Club / Franchise competition in place of Super Rugby), to be eligible to play for the Bokke!
If one looks at the ways and means how South Africa could COMPETE on an equal footing with the French, European and UK clubs, as far as renumeration packages are concerned, the options are very, very liminted… as we are competing with the much, much stronger currencies of the Euro and the Pound.
But there are still possiblities to get that right in the end, here’s the only viable solution as I see it:
1. There will have to be a system of Central contracting in SA, by SARU (principally to keep at least the Springboks playing IN South Africa, for SA Franchises);
2. South Africa would have to get involved in Cross Southern Hemisphere with Northern Hemisphere Competitions, so that our Franchises can get a rightful and equal share of the financial pie (Sponsorships & Broadcasting Deals of the Competitions) of the total Competition pie… which would IMMEDIATELY provide more funds for player salaries in the SA Franchises;
3. All the BIG SA Franchises would have to totally privatise (which is not allowed at present)… like the richer rival clubs and franchises in the UK, France and Japan. Private Enterprise is invariably directly business and performance driven. This will have the spin-off effect that unproductive elements inside a SA Franchise (like a Xander Janse van Rensburg at the Bulls) would be let go and to be replaced by people who know what they are doing and who have the skillset to deliver the right productivity and effectivity;
4. We would have to lobby for and achieve ONE GLOBAL Rugby Season between North and South.
Broadcasting Deals and Sponsorships for the Northern Hemisphere, per competition, are 8 to 10 times higher… and sometimes more, thus, if we form part of such deals, if will mean 8 to 10 times the revenue for a SA Franchise, which will immediately impact on player acquisitions.
Now, we all love the Super Rugby Tournament and would like to still compete with our New Zealand and Aussie counterparts, but the fact of the matter is that Southern Hemisphere Rugby’s purse is just 10 times smaller… which will always put us on the back foot!
So, how do we get into Northern Hemisphere Competitions (where we could reap the financial benefits and keep players), yet satisfy our NEED or YEARNING to compete against NZ & Aussie franchises? Well, I would suggest that Aussie and NZ Franchises are also leaking players up North and so they must be convinced to buy into moving into Cross-Hemisphere competition structures with us!
Imagine one of the SA Franchises playing the Crusaders on one weekend, Toulon the next weekend, then Saracens or Bath the next weekend, to be followed by Toulouse, then another SA Franchise, then Ulster, then the Brumbies… ect, ect!
It will be a global Club / Franchise competition (maybe in the form of a 1st, 2nd & 3rd Division format or structure), where teams are relegated lower if they do not perform and elevated if they do perform… similar to the current UK and French promotion / relegation systems.
Imagine the global interest and audience… imagine the money flowing… and imagine how rugby would universally benefit!!
A SA cross-hemisphere competition would suit SA broadcasting times like a glove, as we are within an hour of France on the clock and within 2 hours from UK on the clock!!
Rugby is big business and we must treat it as big business and not as a wishy washy pastime (the way it is currently run).
No other financial model will keep Southern Hemisphere players in the Southern Hemisphere, only a model which benefits from the same vast financial pie, will result in similar salaries… which is what will keep players right here… it is the only thing which would work! So it’s absolute folly not moving in that direction, where one could compete on equal footing.
I wondered what had happened to him.
@ grootblousmile:
Far too logical for the old farts that control rugby.
14 @ Lion4ever:
We will have opposition from within the current rugby structures, because like you say, they are old farts… but we could also expect opposition from our main Rugby Sponsors like Vodacom and ABSA Bank, as they would stand a chance to be replaced by much bigger UK and European Partners, unless they are prepared to fork out much, much more!
I am not saying it is easy or will be easy to achieve, far from it!!
What I am saying is that we need to be moving in that general direction, and not absolutely counter that direction, as is the current case!
@ grootblousmile:
You hit on a key issue which is the one of central contracting. That will mean decentralizing as you say.
Not sure the Unions would ever go for that, there is too much self interest there…..
Lion4ever wrote:
We need businessmen in charge of the franchises,look how Louis Luyt turned the bankrupt Transvaal around
SANZAR should sell the franchises to owners, like football teams or American sports. Then the profit motive would kick in
We’re still stuck with “administrators” (wtf does that even mean?) running our franchises and their poor results speak for itself
These “administrators” are inept, inefficient to the point of being useless and unaccountable. They are simply fat cat bureaucrats with political contacts
Oh my greatness, Vicky Victoria…
I just received GRAND news from the Bulls via E-Mail, that Frans Ludeke and the Bulls are parting ways permanently!!
So, no Director Of Rugby job for him!!
Stormersboy wrote:
Same could be said for the Northern Hemisphere sharing their pie with us Southerners, they would likely eventually only expand to America.
19 @ MacroPolo:
Why would the North not want to play against Southern Hemisphere Franchises… as the Southern Hemisphere has been the stronger rugby Hemisphere for so many years.. decades… almost forever?
grootblousmile wrote:
Barend, Xander and Wessel are probably still crying
Jono will fly over from Europe to comfort him
@ grootblousmile:
Well the French and English rule the roost in Europe, they will hardly sacrifice the travel factor the travel to South Africa for 4 weeks, and they almost certainly wont travel to Australasia even for a competition, no European broadcaster would ever agree to that.
Lion4ever wrote:
We actually have a valuable resource with the overseas based players
We can pick them and some deserving youngsters to play the end of year tour thereby resting the SA based Boks
And for the June Internationals we don’t play the overseas players as they’ll need the rest
Only really key players will have to play and we can either play them only 40 minutes per game or put them on the bench
22 @ MacroPolo:
Why would they then want to travel to the USA, which amounts to about the same time of flights, yet the USA is in a totally different time zone to the UK and Europe?
SA & Europe are time zone aligned… it makes perfect broadcasting sense, in addition to rugby sense…
Unless you know some sources who have said no, according to your reasons.
Let’s take easy examples… The Bulls, WP & Sharks have recently played Saracens, right… and Toulon have played the Sharks and deeply wants to play against New Zealand opposition like the Crusaders we know it, because it’s been in the news…
There’s been plans afoot for Northern Teams to come play here in Cape Town as well in preparation…
So, what makes YOU think differently and not just talking out your nose right now?
I see that Sport 24 are reporting that Allister Coetzee is confirming that Jaques Fourie will be available for the World Cup but that Andries Bekker will not.
@ grootblousmile:
Well just think about this, the Top 14 is absolutely gigantic, it is where the French get most of their money from. The teams play 26 games a year, sometimes 2 games a week… some teams qualify for the Euro cup, where they play at least 6 games, at the most 9 games.
Firstly, the French and English would never sacrifice their domestic comps, those are the big money spinners. So at best IF we ever have a transcontinental comp, it will be 6 games for the SA teams… Then we come back to play Currie Cup.
@ grootblousmile:
USA is the biggest economy in the world, with lots of market potential… wher is… we are in Africa.
@ grootblousmile:
I am sure the French and English would have looked at financially viable options that suits THEM, and if we were a prospect they would certainly have looked into it a year or two ago when they restructured the European Cup.
That said, In an ideal world I see a trans continental competition as our best chance to stay relevant… I am just not convinced it is realistic.
26 @ MacroPolo:
You are thinking small my dear man… I am thinking about a Global Club / Franchise competition, in 3 tiers of competition…
The biggest thing Rugby Union has ever seen!!
Are you saying there is no appeal in that??
Think big… the sky is the limit.. the vast audience is the limit, the overall international appeal is the limit…. broadcasters would stand in queue for the right format and the right competition structure!
Who says anybody has to fly out to SA for 4 weeks, we’re on the same time zone, so there is no jet lag factors, because to come to SA you don’t have to travel time zones, one stays in about the same time zone factor… and Europe is 12 hours away, they could fly on a Wednesday and easily play on the weekend, then fly back and be ready for another game a few days later… in the same time zone structure…
Don’t let your imagination limit you, think outside the box!
grootblousmile wrote:
What I can’t understand is why SA Rugby always have to fall in with others plans?
Why don’t we take the initiative and create a tournament on our own?
We always have to wait for someone else to create the opportunities for us
I think it’s due to the farking “administrators” running rugby, these old farts don’t know their ass from their elbow when it comes to running a business
For instance rugby in the US is growing and we should tap into this market
It will provide SARU with much needed US dollars
We should keep our fingers crossed that the US does well in the Olympics, it will provide them with exposure, sponsors and lots of money. It will be very good for rugby
The All Blacks have played the US last year before the EOYT
Why can’t SARU do it as well
About two years ago Canada played the “All Blacks” in Toronto while the real AB’s were actually playing in the EOYT. Why can’t we do it?
It’s good marketing and we have the extra players for a SA A side
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