Stormers coach John Dobson sat down with SA Rugby magazine and implored clubs to vote for the equity deal that saves the game in the province.
Q: What would you say to those who vote against the equity proposal?
A: I just desperately want to urge everybody to put aside personal differences or differences between the clubs, any differences with SA Rugby or any agendas. Just do what’s best for Western Province rugby. I’m sure everyone feels they are doing that, but to understand is important.
It’s not just about the professional team. That’s a very small part. Nor is it only about the clubs and schools. We have the most marvellous rugby community on our doorstep here. Those millions of people, those fans out there who we give hope to every Saturday afternoon, we need to think about them. To take that away from our fans and our stakeholders would be disastrous.
I have been coaching Western Province for 13 or 14 years, I have played club rugby at UCT and up in Elsies River, I’ve coached school rugby here. I know that you don’t make money in sports equity, certainly not in South Africa. There’s no profit imperative from these guys. They literally came in to help.
You have to think about what they are buying. Professional rugby is a tough world at the moment. They are buying a business that is in a cataclysmically poor state. The financials are out there, losses that mount up to hundreds of millions. To get this offer for a bankrupt business is extraordinary.
The IP has been used as a reason not to do the deal, but you have to get something for your money. Western Province Rugby Football Unions also have rights to the Disa. It’s in the agreement. We need people to run a commercial programme. The idea is that a business eventually becomes profitable and then does go back to the union, to the stakeholders and to the clubs. But they can’t run the commercial programme without rights. Western Province will always have access to their trademarks. Nobody’s pretending for one second that those will be removed from Western Province.
The other thing I will add is that anybody could have expressed interest. It was made publically clear. Nobody has come forward. This was the only deal left in town. It happens to be philanthropic people. SA Rugby fought very hard to get the best deal. There were many rounds of negotiations before it was presented to the clubs. So this amount for a business in such a state is extraordinary.
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What makes the equity proposal non-negotiable?
Rugby belongs to everybody in this province. It’s the biggest province when it comes to rugby in the country, with the supporter base and fans. No matter who is on the title deed, it doesn’t just belong to the clubs, it belongs to all the people in this province. We need it to survive. There is no other deal.
In this pre-season, we have had absolutely nothing. We are borrowing money just to get through pre-season. Compared to other United Rugby Championship teams, we are literally begging, borrowing and scraping. We really are on the ropes.
This is a team that has played in two URC finals. That’s what makes this non-negotiable. We have to be able to compete. For our fans and our clubs, we need an inspirational team. We want kids to want to become the next Manie Libbok, Damian Willemse or Evan Roos. In effect, if this doesn’t happen, we would be taking that away from them. The Stormers as we currently know them would no longer exist.
We need this to secure our community game. We can’t take that away from our supporters. For us to run a professional team and secure the community game, requires finance. This would be the biggest equity deal ever done in South Africa. We can have a professional arm that is properly capitalised. We can have the cash given to the union without ever, ever asking them for money again. There are prospects of dividends, should we make a profit, going back into our community rugby. We will have a top team playing out of DHL Stadium. It would just be great for rugby in this region. To my mind, the alternative is unthinkable.
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What is the consequence of a majority no vote?
Look, the professional team won’t be in its current form at all. Whether it stays URC-based, I don’t know – that would be up to SA Rugby to decide.
In a funny way, the professional players would be the most okay – a guy like Manie Libbok would get another offer from somewhere. Hopefully it’s within whatever the franchise looks like. As a team, our whole mission was to make Cape Town smile. How we’ve linked that team to Cape Town is one of the reasons for our success. That would be utterly tragic if that was to be taken away.
As I say, the professional players would be alright, maybe a bit of trauma and uncertainty. What worries me most is the potential damage to community rugby. The link with our supporters is everything to us. That would be very sad if it were broken. There is a very real financial effect that this would have on the union, the amount repayable to SA Rugby, the property stuff, all that would put the union in a hell of a position. I am not sure if they would be able to service community rugby. All our sponsors and suppliers, it would impact everybody. That balance sheet would look appalling. You couldn’t call it an income statement, because there would be no form of income. Those consequences are too dreadful.
Of course, everyone wants the perfect deal. I have been here long enough to see what this could look like and express an opinion. I can assure you that my only thing is to see this team exist, thrive and stay connected to the people of Cape Town. We have to put everything aside and not only save rugby in the Western Cape, but put it in a position to grow. I can’t believe that it would be in the interests of Western Province Rugby for there to not be a Stormers team or to put it into this financial state should the deal not go through.
To our supporters, the guys who paid the R250 for a ticket to fill DHL Stadium towards the end of last season, who come to our training sessions in Blue Downs and Delft. Please, we desperately want this team to be there for you. We want you to feel proud. We want to put a smile on your face. To my mind, this team belongs to our supporters. A lot of those come from our clubs. I can’t see voting no being in the interests of the clubs, when you have so many wanting to play rugby, and the potential to not be financially burdened.
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