Ballz Visual Radio recorded a very, very interesting interview with Xander Janse van Rensburg, Blue Bulls High Performance Manager, discussing and detailing how young talent is identified ranging from as early as 12 years of age upwards. It details how relationships are formed with them and how they are drawn into junior high performance structures at the Bulls, how scouting is done and ultimately how these players are brought into the Blue Bulls fold.

You would be doing yourself an injustice not to view and listen to the whole interview.

I was recently asked by one of our bloggers, Cosa, to shed some more light on the player losses the Bulls are suffering and contracting in future. Cosa, amongst others, this is for your hungry consumption!

Some serious work is done to determine the right candidates, who fit in with the Union’s objectives and longer term goals, who have the work ethic and the talent, to rise right to the top of the pile. It shows the dedication a Union in today’s competative age has to aspire to and master, to be and remain the best they can possibly be. The work behind the scenes are of epic proportions!

The sound quality at the start of the interview with Xander is not good, but then it improves quite well.

Here’s the interview:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr7tgVKw5OY[/youtube]

The Bulls official website also shed some light on contracting of players, here’s the article:

All contracting done at the Blue Bulls Company is first and foremost regulated by SARU Regulations, more specifically Schedule 6 re Player Status, Player Contracts and Player Movement Regulations.

We abide by these at all times.

Section 5 – Compensations for players, transfer and development – specifically deals with the issue of development fees and compensation to which you referred. This is a sub-regulation which ensures that Provinces are compensated for their investment in the development of a player.

You are however faced with certain unique challenge re the compensation such as:

• It is only applicable to players under the age of 23
• It is only applicable (compensation being seeked from) to the first club following the players initial province/club/union
• It is only applicable on the player’s first/initial contract (whether being the Home Province or New Province)
• SCHEDULE III of the above regulation sets out criteria to determine an amount – whether it be sufficient or not – to really repay for the investment is another question.

I think you can shed more light for yourself on areas which may be uncertain if you go to the website www.sarugby.co.za and find all the Rules and Regulations there under the link RULES/REGS.

Furthermore it is important to note that all Blue Bulls players are contracted on the Collective Agreement and Standard Player Employment Contract which is annually agreed by SAREO & SARPA.

All senior players at the Blue Bulls are members of SARPA. It is important to note that the Blue Bulls also contract junior players (U19-21) and promising schoolboys.

These are separate contracts, aligned with the principles of the Collective Agreement, but having other objectives.

The contracting strategy is based on one of our core business pillars which clearly state that the BBC strives to recruit and retain the most talented players parallel to the following points:

• Player management and player welfare
• Talent/promise
• Managing the player pipeline
• Updated database of players
• Holistic approach to contracting (consider various factors, not only talent and ability)
• In depth succession planning

All is based on the principle and subject thereto that we create and manage a sustainable financial business to ensure we adhere to the needs of players, coaches, management, staff, personnel, managers, stakeholders, fans and sponsors.