Coach claims player exodus helped South Africa win World Cup as more stars set to quit Welsh rugby

'It works for us', believes the Springboks' former chief

A mass exodus of players from South African rugby actually helped the Springboks win the World Cup, former coach Jacques Nienaber has claimed.

The Boks secured back-to-back World Cup wins in France in October, beating New Zealand in the final having lifted the Webb Ellis Cup in Japan four years earlier. But that success came after a number of top players opted to continue their club careers overseas, with several stars departing for big pay packets in Europe and Japan.

Welsh rugby is now in the same position with a host of internationals opting to quit the regions for a move abroad ahead of their budgets being slashed again. Last year, Liam Williams and Gareth Anscombe moved to Japan and Liam Halfpenny and Rhys Patchell joined clubs in New Zealand, while Ospreys star George North announced he would be joining Provence in the ProD2 from next season.

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Even more are set to follow, with Cardiff duo Tomos Williams and Rhys Carre set to be lost to Gloucester and Saracens respectively with the likes of Taine Basham, Mason Grady, Johnny Williams, Aaron Wainwright and Rio Dyer all thought to be weighing up moves away from Wales.

But while such moves are set to further weaken the regions, in South Africa's case, Nienaber claims that the exodus ended up helping the national team, allowing young talents to progress through the ranks more quickly.

“I don’t think we have the monetary strength to pay our players the value that they are valued at. If you look at the squad that we took, it’s about half and half,” the new Leinster coach told The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast. “About 15 or 16 players were plying their trade abroad and 15 or 16 plied their trade in South Africa.

“Those guys abroad, I don’t know what their salaries are, but if they were in South Africa there’s no way we would be able to pay them. I do think it’s good for us they go abroad, they play there and then you can still select them if they’re good enough.

“That really helped us win two World Cups," he added. "It works for us. If you think about the locks, Eben (Etzebeth) was with the Sharks but he was abroad in 2019, then you have Franco Mostert, who’s abroad, you have RG (Snyman) and Jean Kleyn, who’s abroad.

“If all of them stayed in South Africa, there wouldn’t have been the Ruan Nortjes and the young guys coming through now because they would have been blocked by them. You get the new guys who are playing in the URC. It broadens your guys’ exposure to top rugby, so it’s a good thing for us.”

With a number of senior players departing, Cardiff, the Ospreys, the Scarlets and the Dragons have all fielded a host of youngsters in league and cup competitions so far this season, with the likes of Mackenzie Martin and Cam Winnett putting their hands up for a place in Warren Gatland's Six Nations squad. Over the border, wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has also staked his claim to a squad place with a series of impressive performances for Exeter Chiefs.