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When the six rugby franchises finish tallying up the spoils from last week’s Covid-19-enforced transfer deadline, it’ll be tough for any of them to beat the Lions to end up as probably the biggest losers out of the chaos.
While the Sharks, Bulls and Cheetahs would have derived degrees of satisfaction from the outcomes of the forced 21-day window period, in which players could terminate their contracts to avoid the mandatory pay cuts the industry has to go through due to Covid-19, Western Province, the Southern Kings and the Lions can’t necessarily be accused of having similar cause to feel smug.
The applause for their Warrick Gelant-sized smash-and-grab at Loftus Versfeld may still be ringing in their ears, but thanks to the way they handled the Pieter-Steph du Toit “will he, won’t he?” saga, Province have emerged as the bungling kings of a tricky period in which a seemingly flimsy grasp of contractual agreements almost lost them the World rugby player of the year.
