Have your say on whether SA Rugby should scrap the salary cap currently restricting the country’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship franchises to R65.5 million per squad.

Three years ago, SA Rugby confirmed the implementation of a new professional contracting model which included a salary cap of R60m at eight major unions with a maximum of 45 contracted players allowed.

In 2021, it was increased to R65.5m. However, the cap has caused much debate in the rugby fraternity, with many believing the imposed restrictions are counter-productive for teams whose budgets exceed the cap, such as the Vodacom Bulls who are 74% owned by Johann Rupert and Patrice Motsepe.

“Money is one thing rugby in this country could use in far more abundance and, at a time when unions are finally taking their first steps into privatisation, the salary cap has effectively handcuffed the very benefactors on whose shoulders the sustainability of the game in SA rests,” Zelím Nel wrote in his column.