President welcomes bright new dawn for SARU

South African Rugby Union (SARU) president Mr Oregan Hoskins was re-elected unopposed for a third term in office – which has been extended from a two-year to a four-year term under the new SARU constitution.
He will be joined on the Exco by deputy president Mark Alexander (re-elected) and vice president James Stoffberg (Leopards), who won their seats through an election of the 14 member provinces.

In addition the meeting elected three representatives from the provincial unions to sit on the Exco. Mr Boet Fick (Blue Bulls) and Dawie Groenewald (Griqualand West) will serve for four years and Mr Francois Davids (Boland) for two years – variation in the length of term was to avoid the scenario where the entire Exco changed at one time. A fourth position from the member unions was automatically filled by Dr Jan Marais – the former chairman of board of SA Rugby (Pty) Ltd – who serves for one year before becoming eligible for re-election in March 2011.

The Exco assumes the functions formerly filled by the board of SA Rugby (Pty) Ltd and the President’s Council and Management Committee of SARU.

Its membership is completed by two independent members – who are elected by the Exco – the SARU chief executive, chief financial officer and one sponsors’ representative. One of the independent positions will be filled by former deputy president Mike Stofile, who was a member of the former SA Rugby (Pty) Ltd board, and was entrenched until March 2011 to provide continuity.

“These elections were the culmination of a long process of re-structuring and represent a bright new dawn for rugby,” said Mr Hoskins. “We have a significantly simplified and streamlined governance structure and now that most of the posts on the Exco have been filled we can really begin to plan for the future.

“Rugby has come a long way in the past four years. Back then our game was a byword for poor governance and controversy – what is now SASCOC had even been tasked with taking over our administration.
“We now have stable leadership, we can claim to be one of the best administered of South African sports, we are in a healthy financial position with good financial prospects and, best of all, South African rugby teams have been in dominant form on the field.

“There are on-going challenges around representivity and the future of rugby in the Eastern Cape but there is also much to look forward to: There are men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups to be fought and won in the next 18 months, new SANZAR competition structures around the corner and major sponsorship renewals pending.

“South African rugby is enjoying a golden age and we can now look forward with renewed vigour and confidence.”

Election Outcomes:

President: Mr Oregan Hoskins
Deputy President: Mr Mark Alexander
Vice president: Mr James Stoffberg
Elected Executive Council members: Mr Boet Fick, Mr Dawie Groenewald, Mr Francois Davids. (The fourth position is filled for one year by Dr Jan Marais as the former chairman of the board of the SA Rugby (Pty) Ltd).