Professional rugby players and their employers have agreed a new two-and-a-half-year deal to cover conditions of employment in South African rugby.
The agreement is negotiated by MyPlayers on behalf of professional rugby players with the South African Rugby Union (SARU) and the South African Rugby Employers’ Organisation (SAREO), which represents provincial rugby unions and franchises.
The document – the South African Rugby Industry Collective Agreement (SARICA) – establishes a uniform set of employment regulations and protections for professional rugby players and their employers in South Africa.
“SARICA is the foundation on which all rugby players are contracted,” said Ettienne de Lange, Chairperson of SAREO.
“It ensures minimum standards of remuneration and employment for professional players, both men and women and is the default document for any player entering the profession.
“It regulates all areas of professional play from the Springboks down to age group teams and development players at unions.”
As well as ensuring standardised remuneration, it also provides for: Comprehensive medical scheme benefits; Income replacement insurance for disability and catastrophic injury; Concussion and head injury management provisions; Rest periods and player workload management; A contracting model regarding player numbers and team salary caps; And annual leave and off-season protections.
Eugene Henning, CEO of MyPlayers, said: “Load management, of training and playing, is one of the cornerstones of player welfare and particularly complex in a South African rugby season that runs for 12 months.
“SARICA reflects that with regulations that are founded on World Rugby’s identification that individualised load management is the ‘gold standard’ approach to player welfare and recommends its implementation where possible.”
The SARICA provides for a minimum of 12 non-contact weeks in a contract year for all players. Of that 12, five weeks are annual leave; three of which must be taken in an uninterrupted block, in accordance with applicable World Rugby guidelines incorporated into the agreement.
The balance of seven non-contact weeks may be made up of additional annual leave, bye weeks, injury rehabilitation, travel periods or parental leave.
“The employers ensure we can meticulously measure the load in training and playing of all players, as well as the provisions of non-contact weeks,” said Henning.
“Professional rugby is played in South Africa every month of the year. However, thanks to the excellent and professional work of the employers’ high-performance departments, the load profile of our players is frequently lower than that of players in other countries with a uniform close season.
“We have learned how best to manage the 12-month season and have updated the regulations in this agreement to provide the best possible outcome for players, against the framework of the South African playing calendar.”
Rian Oberholzer, CEO of SA Rugby, said: “SARICA balances the interests of everyone in the industry. It sets minimum employment standards, setting remuneration and benefits standards, ensuring player welfare to ensure that professional rugby in South Africa is run consistently and fairly.”