BIG FISH: Stormers won't buy Boks like Sharks
The Stormers are attracting interest from World Cup-winning Springboks under new ownership, but CEO Johan le Roux and Director of Rugby John Dobson wys they won’t become like the Sharks.
A main konyn in the Red Disa consortium and its equity deal to secure a controlling shareholding in WP Professional Rugby (Pty) Ltd, now to be known as Stormers Rugby, Le Roux on Tuesday outlined how the Kapenaars will balance the books while chasing success on and off the field.
Under majority shareholder, Marco Masotti, the Sharks have continued their big spending, landing Bok ysters like Trevor Nyakane and Andre Esterhuizen.
The Stormers last Friday announced the return of United Rugby Championship-winning skipper Steven Kitshoff from Ulster next season, but Le Roux said yesterday: “Before the [takeover] deal, there wouldn’t have been an option, but the option is there now.
“John is given a rugby budget that he has to operate. He is responsible for the whole rugby programme.
“Everything that happens on the field and around the field is under his control. He can sign Kitsie [Kitshoff], but he must make sure that he stays in the budget.
“We don’t have ambitions of becoming a big-money club.”
Dobson, who now heads up recruitment as well as coaching, insists Kitshoff isn’t the start of a spending spree – but hints at a few possible big-name arrivals.
Dobbo says: “There might be one or two more announcements, but nothing like us going into the market.
“What’s remarkable is that since this deal, there have been a few World Cup-winning Springboks who have rung up and asked to come back, which is great for us.
“Kitsie was a no-brainer, because he is a leader, one of us, who was gone for a very short time. There are no other agendas.
“If it fits the budget and the best interests of the team, then we will go ahead and do it.”