DEPUTY president Mark Alexander and Western Province Rugby Union president Thelo Wakefield are likely to be in the mix when the nominations are made for the next SA Rugby Union (Saru) president.
After more than 10 years in the hot seat, Oregan Hoskins resigned as the head of Saru on Wednesday, shortly before the start of a general council meeting of the 14 provincial rugby unions in Johannesburg. Hoskins was widely expected to be ousted at the meeting, but decided to step down on his own terms.
The meeting was supposed to last two days but was concluded yesterday. “All a player ever wants to do is leave ‘the jersey’ in a better condition than in which they found it, and I hope that my peers will say that of me. I want to say thank you for the opportunity to serve as president of South African rugby and to carry on the good fight in what I regard as the greatest sport in South Africa,” Hoskins said yesterday.
“I think we are a more disciplined, better run and a much more focused sport than we were in 2006.
“But after 10 hard years in the hot seat, it’s time for me to hand over to a new person to carry this heavy burden, but wonderful privilege.”
The “new person”, according to Saru’s constitution, must be a person who is currently on the organisation’s executive council or serving as an executive member of one of the provincial unions.
The 14 unions have to submit their nominations 30 days prior to the meeting date, which could be determined as early as next week, for the election at a special general council meeting.
The unions will then send two executive members to the meeting to vote for the next Saru president.
Alexander, currently the acting president of Saru, Wakefield and even Lions president Kevin de Klerk could be in the mix when the 14 unions eventually make their nominations.