World Cup bids set to change trajectory of game in South Africa

South Africa recently joined the race to host the women’s and men’s IRL Rugby League World Cups in 2028 and 2030, respectively. Hosting the World Cup has the potential to elevate not only rugby league in South Africa, but also the communities in the lead up to the World Cup. 

By Daniel Roodt

"IT'S like you're running a marathon, at pace, while surviving several hard tackles".

That is how rugby league is described by Rugby League South Africa.

According to Chris Botes of Maxxium Sport Enterprise, bid lead for the efforts to host the Rugby League World Cup in South Africa: “Rugby league is a fast-paced game made for television and spectators, with simple to follow rules and matches full of entertainment The game itself rewards innovative play and places an emphasis on scoring tries. It’s the best of both worlds in terms of action and excitement". 

The sport broke away from its cousin, rugby union, in the UK in 1895 due to player wage disputes. Working-class rugby teams in Northern England began to taste success, leading to players being compensated for playing rugby, rather than working on a Saturday. This was in contrast to the affluent teams in the South, where players could afford to take Saturdays off. The decision to pay players led to the governing body attempting to enforce a rule to prevent teams from paying players. In response, Northern teams split from the general governing body and formed the Northern Rugby Football Union (NRFU) in 1895. 

Post-split, the Northern Union quickly began differentiating itself; abolishing lineouts in 1897 and introducing professionalism in 1898. A few years later in 1906, rucks were scrapped and team sizes were reduced from 15 to 13. These are rules that still remain today and separate the typically quicker and more physical rugby league from its rugby union cousin. 

Rugby league in South Africa

Rugby league was first played in South Africa in the 1950s, when international teams played a series of exhibition matches. However, the lacklustre performances of the touring sides diminished any appetite for the sport in South Africa until 1962, when efforts to reinvigorate the game went ahead.

In 1962, two rival leagues introduced rugby league in South Africa, with the National Rugby League (NRL) and Rugby League South Africa (RLSA) both introducing their own competitions. After a year apart, and with pressure from the international governing body, the two merged to create a singular league based in Johannesburg. Nine teams played in the inaugural season, which also saw an invitational side tour Australia. 

The sport was then banned in South Africa due to players being paid for their exploits and because players of colour were allowed to play.

A slow return

Rugby league in South Africa was slowly revitalised in the late 1980s, but South Africa’s global political standing as a result of apartheid stifled the attempted resurrection. Until 1992, a series of friendlies and township clinics were the only signs of life for rugby league in South Africa, highlighting rugby league’s attempts at becoming a community sport.

Following a tournament in 1992 comprising of teams from across the country, the game seemed to finally be on the rise. The sport continued to grow, boosted by township clinics and rugby league highlights packages broadcast on South African televisions. 

1996 was a year of marked improvement though, as things began to steadily improve. South Africa was invited to rejoin the International Rugby League governing body. A year later, South Africa put together a side that competed in an international tournament, but with little support from the government, it became a struggle to maintain this momentum.

While individuals have continued to pioneer the sport in South Africa, the lack of government recognition and widespread support from schools has stifled the growth of rugby league in South Africa. The lack of official backing has also meant that the national team, the Rhinos, has struggled to go deep in international tournaments, with the best effort to date a quarterfinal appearance in 2013 at the Student World Cup and currently being ranked 26th in the world.

Rugby league, a community sport

Commenting on the benefit rugby league brings to communities, South African Rugby League president Dr Frans Erasmus said: “Rugby league globally is a community-focussed sport and has a well-known legacy of developing and supporting communities. Along with our international and national stakeholders, we will be launching our One Community One Team project soon and its focus would be on harnessing the power of sport to positively affect long-lasting change in communities.”

Future glimmers

The opportunity to host the 2028 women’s and 2030 men’s IRL Rugby League World Cups, which South Africa has entered the bidding race for, is set to change the trajectory of rugby league in South Africa.

South Africa has ample facilities, a tremendous amount of youth players and also a very passionate sporting public that loves going to club matches.

Botes stated: “A World Cup creates an opportunity for any sporting code to invest in development and communities. Not only would it raise the profile of the sport, but also lead to additional investment in communities. You only need to look at the 2021 IRL World Cup in England where more than £26million was invested in communities because of the World Cup. The benefit is long term and starts before the first game.

“From an economic perspective the benefit is clear. Hosting an international tournament with 10 countries playing brings in international spectators who stay for more than a week and spend significant money in South Africa. We estimate the economic benefit of the 2030 IRL World Cup to be in excess of R4billion at this stage.”