Mallett: SA franchises need more money
Nick Mallett says SA teams will continue to struggle in the Investec Champions Cup for as long as their opponents have significantly bigger budgets.
For the first time since joining the competition in the 2022-23 season, no side from the Republic will feature in the round-of-16 playoffs.
The Vodacom Bulls and Sharks both finished fifth in their six-team pool to at least qualify for the second-tier Challenge Cup playoffs, while the Stormers’ last-place pool finish ended their European campaign completely.
“One has to understand that the budgets are weighed heavily towards the European teams,” former Springbok coach Mallett told News24. “Even the top English and Irish clubs have fatter budgets compared to their South African counterparts.
“There’s also the wide French ones that allow them to retain all of their international players in France, whereas there are multi-international players in France.
“The amount of money available to them ensures they are a cut above everyone else, and we lose our players because of the rand’s weakness.”
The annual salary cap for the top four SA franchises for the 2024-25 season is R95-million, compared to Toulouse’s €50,372-million (R973-million).
Mallett said SA Rugby needed a big cash injection to help increase the playing depth of SA’s four Vodacom URC franchises and allow them to compete in two competitions.
“The money that comes from the URC and the EPCR shareholding will help, but significantly, the private equity money that comes in from whoever wins the bid to partner SA Rugby will be crucial.
“That money isn’t just important for grassroots development, but it must help the professional game because it’s being held together by private money.
“We’ve seen the drawbacks of that in the English professional game and the one thing we must understand is that no one makes money from running a professional sports outfit.
“The distribution of those funds should be as such that even though the SA teams may not be able to compete on a level financial footing, they still have enough to attract and keep their key players.
“This could allow SA teams to rest and rotate players in the URC and keep them fresh enough for the Champions Cup.”
