Advertisers say ‘but wait, there’s more’, but WP say there’s far less 0
Advertisers may love to say “But wait, there’s more”, but for Western Province rugby it is a case of it being far less.
At least when it comes to the money they are spending on players, and in particular on young Springbok fullback Damian Willemse.
Recent reports have alleged Willemse is earning R5.6 million a year to play for the Stormers, linking the extraordinary salary to allegations of reckless spending at the troubled union.
But Stormers coach John Dobson on Tuesday lashed out at the unethical reporting of individual player’s salaries and stated that the figures were wrong in any case.
“We have done very well to retain most of the squad we have until 2024 and we are still 15.3% below the salary cap. So we are certainly not throwing money at players as alluded to, and that’s with several Springboks staying, even though some of them were offered more elsewhere. Some players were even approached outside the transfer window.
“A line was absolutely crossed when Damian Willemse had an incorrect salary published, the figure was considerably off, it is much less than reported. To speculate about someone’s salary and then not get it right affects both the player and the cohesion of the squad. He’s a 23-year-old who is playing superbly and is desperate for Western Province to be successful,” Dobson said.
Dobson also confirmed that negotiations with 2019 World Player of the Year Pieter-Steph du Toit are ongoing, saying that the talismanic Springbok has a strong affinity with the Western Cape.
“We’ve been talking to Pieter-Steph the whole year and he wanted to get back on to the field first before making any decisions. He has not signed anywhere overseas yet and we have planned for both scenarios – him staying with us or leaving – in our budget. But when a global star comes on the market, no South African franchise would be able to stand against the offer.
“But Pieter-Steph has got family and business interests in the Western Cape, he’s a big part of the team and the region, and he and his agents have been very transparent. Trying to match an overseas offer – if it’s a million euro or more particularly millions of yen – would break our salary cap, that would be about one-third of the salary cap on one player. But maybe he’ll go away for a short time and then come back,” Dobson explained.