The Blue Bulls’ signing of talented Western Province duo JJ Engelbrecht and Johan Sadie this past week has led to some heated debate around the topic of ‘poaching’. While it is true that the Blue Bulls have in the past few years signed numerous Western Province youngsters, chief amongst these being Francois Hougaard and Stephan Dippenaar, they cannot be blamed for making signings to strengthen their squad. The question should not be why the Blue Bulls are signing W.P. youngsters, but rather why Western Province are allowing so many talented youngsters to leave the union. 

The signing of Schalk Brits as a replacement loose-forward for the Stormers’ SupeRugby semi-final clash against the Crusaders perfectly illustrates this point. Brits, who matriculated from Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch, played age group rugby for W.P. before being released to sign for the Lions where he quickly established himself as one of South Africa’s brightest talents. He was later resigned by Province after they opted to buy him from the Lions at great expense to the union, an expense that could have been spared had they hung on to the skilful hooker as a youngster.

The Western Province Rugby Institute was established in 2006 and has delivered players such as Juan De Jongh, Nick Koster and De Kock Steenkamp to the W.P. senior side over the last few years. The Institute is managed by Steph Nel and Jacques Hanekom, who have developed the structures from the ground up, and have done a stellar job of delivering a steady stream of young talent to be considered by the Union for the senior and age group sides. The question then arises as to why the Stormers could not fill the void created by the injury to Duane Vermeulen from within their own structures.

Western Province boast the likes of Hilton Lobberts (ex-Springbok), Wimpie van der Walt and Yaya Hartzenberg (who has matured through the W.P. ranks from U/16 level through to Vodacom Cup) on their books, but over-looked them all when looking for a replacement for Vermeulen. Add to this the departure of flanker Pieter Myburgh to the Cheetahs two weeks prior and the message from Province seems clear: Youngsters should go elsewhere to find game time.

Players that have left the union over the past few years after being overlooked for selection include the likes of Ernst Joubert (Lions captain; Saracens), Charl McLeod (Sharks; Springbok touring squad), W.P. Nel (Free State Cheetahs), Ryno Barnes (Griquas and Cheetahs), Francois Hougaard (Bulls; Springbok), Stephan Dippenaar (Bulls) and most recently Johan Sadie and JJ Engelbrecht.

Western Province will have to do more to keep hold of their youngsters, and more importantly, to find ways of blooding those youngsters in the senior sides. With many first choice players absent through international duty and injury, the forthcoming Currie Cup season is ideal opportunity to do just that.