Developing Strategic Partnerships:
The Sharks (Pty) Ltd are proud to announce the formation of new rugby partnerships with the Pumas and Border Rugby Unions aimed at collaborative growth and development that benefits all three unions in a ground-breaking effort.
This initiative involves the formation of working groups designed to effectively focus on player and commercial interests across the entities.
The formal partnership that contractually binds the parties together has established certain deliverables to achieve the aim of developing sustainable growth in the regions, both on and off the field.
Explaining the intricacies of the partnership, The Sharks CEO Dr Eduard Coetzee said, “This is a very exciting, proud time for us all, we’re building on a heritage that goes back to the early days of Super Rugby and the Coastal Sharks.
“The difficulties faced by Border Rugby are well-documented, but we’re delighted with the new leadership under the president of the Border Rugby Football Union Zuko Badli, they have a vision that we can now formally partner with on a contractual basis.
“This is not about The Sharks buying or taking control, but collaboration. Border come from a place that shows a real willingness to rebuild, they’re proudly the cradle of rugby in South Africa and we want to partner with them at every level, from grassroots up, to assist them to re-establish as a professional company and the powerhouse in South African Rugby that we believe they should be.
“We’re also thrilled to announce the exclusive strategic partnership with the Pumas, a sharing of commercial inventory, sponsorships and advertising, as well as player exchanges – but not during overlapping competitions – which is a very exciting partnership.”
Zuko Badli admitted how thrilled he and his executive and the Border Rugby Union were to partner with The Sharks.
“We are also excited about this partnership, the relationship between our two unions goes back many years and in waking up the bulldog, we saw it proper to have an equity partner, but at this stage this is a strategic partnership.
“There are a number of pillars we want to benefit from with this partnership with The Sharks because we’re one year out of administration. We have paid off the debt to SARS that was owed a year ago and these are the kinds of best business practices we are aiming for.
“We want to get the sponsors back and that means improving trust because of our history and we feel that partnering with The Sharks will help improve our marketing and monetisation, as well as commercialisation of the union.
“We also include on this list corporate governance and best practices, financial management and administrative systems.
“These are the things we will look at, as well as giving our players opportunities as part of this partnership, opportunities they would not normally get. The Sharks will also receive preference in terms of buying and selling of players.
“As Border, we are very proud and happy with this partnership, one we know will benefit the rugby loving community of the Border region.”
Explaining the reasoning behind the partnership that goes beyond rugby, Coetzee explained that, “We are in the human capital business and with Vincent Mai, one of our controlling owners who has a passion for the Eastern Cape, we reached out to Border who are our neighbouring province.
“There’s a huge influx of kids from the Eastern Cape who attend school in KZN and we have a number of players from the area in our current squad. Equally we wouldn’t have won the Rugby World Cup without players from the region. So there is a traditional relationship already in place, and this partnership is a way to also pay back.
“There’s a lack of trust and a sense of pessimism in South African sport, especially in rugby at the moment, so we find that everything that happens is conversational. What we’ve worked hard on is a solution to help Border and we see it as a privilege to be in this situation.”
Delving further into the partnership with the Pumas and Border, Coetzee added, “We’re currently trying to manage a squad with 11 or 12 internationals and that plays for 11 months of the year, so if we have really strong trust and strategic partnerships, a player who sits in our squad but doesn’t get to play, can be a Border player for a full Currie Cup, knowing that he’s the first player we can draw in the case of injuries to our team.
“From a high performance point of view, that is the ultimate aim. Instead of having players watch rugby from the sidelines, they will get opportunities with another union with a similar value system and culture.”
Key to this collective success is proper governance in order to harness and develop this growth as well as a collaboration to identify areas marked for improvement as well as future opportunities that benefit their rugby and business elements.
There will be a two-pronged approach to these partnerships, with the Border focus aimed at grassroots development by adding expertise to their structures, including infrastructure development (corporate and playing programmes), advisory assistance on corporate governance, feeder system for the Academy and a greater push for Women’s rugby.
The Pumas’ partnership represents a player-oriented focus on player optimisation and player contracting opportunities such as player exchanges, as well as assistance with commercial growth like the sponsorship portfolio, the upsell of advertising, access to suites and the sharing of rugby-specific intellectual property.
“Hopefully down the line in a year or two, there will be even greater opportunities available which is a win for us, our partners and for South African rugby,” Coetzee concluded.
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Quick Durban KwaZulu-Natal Fact: The KwaZulu-Natal Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council buildings, both national monuments, formed a colonial Parliament of two houses: a Council of 11 nominated members and an Assembly of 37 elected members. The Natal Parliament was disbanded in 1910 when the Union of South Africa was formed, and the Assembly became the meeting place of the Natal Provincial Council. The Council was disbanded in 1986.
