Piere Spies calls for sabbaticals for top players. This comes in the wake of the New Zeelanders calling for sabbaticals for their senior players. I believe in South Africa its merely a case of greed. Honestly how would that work? Does your union have to pay your salary for six months and pay your replacement? What about national duty? Do you as contracted Springbok than get a salary from the SARU?
Super Rugby and Currie Cup teams are separate legal entities and as such, the players have different contracts for each competition. I don`t want to call our beloved Currie Cup a watered down competition, but unfortunately that`s what it has become. I think if a player truly feels that he is being overplayed and needs a `sabbatical` he should negotiate it with his union for release from Currie Cup duties. Players like Peter Grand, Wynand Olivier and Ryan Kankowski have all signed deals with Japanese clubs and were excluded from Curry Cup teams.
Everybody is always saying `there is too much rugby`, but I believe coaches are just overplaying players. Or else they just don`t believe in their own development structures. Senior players play the entire Super Rugby, than do Springbok duty and than come back to play Currie Cup. If Piere Spies really needs his rest why not request to be left out of the Currie Cup squad or possibly the Bok squad. Or would that hurt their pockets too much?
Whats is your opinion? You know what I think.
