Rassie Erasmus has revealed how his plan for rugby’s answer to T20 cricket, involving the likes of Dan Carter and Richie McCaw, fell apart after resistance from New Zealand.
In his newly released autobiography – Rassie: Stories of Life and Rugby – Erasmus claims he had a radical new concept for franchise rugby inspired by T20 cricket.
The new competition would feature games lasting only 20 minutes per half, with a two-minute half-time interval. The idea was to see franchises clash over two-week tournament in January, with each game night featuring three quickfire matches.
“In just over two hours, fans could watch some of the world’s top players in action,” Erasmus wrote in Rassie.
“We saw it as part of pre-season training and commissioned sports scientists to check if it would be too taxing for the players.
“We planned a televised event in London to auction the players and coaches and obtained commitments from big-name sponsors and broadcasters.”
Erasmus revealed that the organising group had contacted up to 100 “top international players” to get them involved in the tournament.
Players would be divided into eight privately-owned franchises, competing for a financial prize.
However, Erasmus said things started to unravel when they tried to head hunt All Blacks stars McCaw and Carter in early 2010.
“While we were talking to players from the Crusaders, including Richie McCaw and Dan Carter, after a Super Rugby match against the Stormers in Cape Town, we were spotted by the Crusaders coaching staff, who thought we were trying to sign their players to join the Stormers,” Erasmus wrote.
“They immediately reported the incident to New Zealand Rugby CEO Steve Tew, and he sent a formal complaint to the then-president of SA Rugby Regan Hoskins.”
Hoskins was fully aware of the plans and sent an SA Rugby contingent to ease Tew’s concerns about what was going on.
Former South Africa Rugby chair Dr Jan Marais and lawyer Frikkie Erasmus held a meeting with Tew, New Zealand Rugby and Sanzar partners in Sydney.
“Unfortunately, they weren’t in favour of the competition and made it clear they wouldn’t allow their players to take part,” Erasmus wrote. “But because of the money they would receive, the players remained committed, so we said we would continue with our plans.
“Tew then complained to the International Rugby Board and we subsequently received a letter from the IRB notifying us that any player or coach who took part in the competition would be permanently banned from playing rugby.
“That brought an abrupt end to our idea.”
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