SA Rugby president Mark Alexander says they are close to adopting a draft system that will assist the Cheetahs and Kings with improving their squads.

At the beginning of this month, former Springbok coach Jake White wrote in a column for AllOutRugby that SA Rugby needs to bring in a draft to allow top players to be shared among the franchises.

Alexander told EWN that they are close to finalising a system that would allow more players to be available to South Africa’s Pro14 teams.

‘We are talking about a drafting system. At our next franchise meeting, we are hopefully going to get the finalisation. We presented it, [made] a couple of tweaks, we are almost there to get that contracting model out.

‘We are putting a capping on the contracting of players, we’ve got a contracting model about to be approved. In that contracting model, a lot of players will become available to other teams like the Kings and the Cheetahs.

‘In any position, you’ll have three or four players for that position. The No 4 and No 5 player never get an opportunity to play. That kid can be drafted by another union and have game time. So we can have the best players playing rugby every week and not some of the best players sitting in the storeroom.’

Photo: Richard Huggard/Gallo Images