Ball in Kagiso Vantage’s court

SARU had no contractual relationship with Kagiso Vantage

The South African Rugby Union (SARU) are awaiting a response from Kagiso Vantage after they had “exchanged communications” on Friday to resolve a commercial dispute.

The parties were in discussions on Friday to find a solution to a dispute which has threatened to compromise some of the rights of competition sponsors at Super Rugby matches at Newlands and Kings Park.

This follows a unilateral announcement by Kagiso Vantage, the commercial agent appointed by Western Province and The Sharks, in which Kagiso Vantage threatened to withhold space on perimeter advertising as a result of a dispute over advertising rights at Super Rugby and Currie Cup matches in 2012.

Kagiso Vantage also claimed advertising income from Test matches at the two venues - events for which no such rights apply.

Jurie Roux, SARU CEO, confirmed that both parties had compromised in the dispute. He said that he was now looking forward to Kagiso Vantage’s response and pointed out that SARU had no contractual relationship with Kagiso Vantage.

Roux, prior to Friday’s talks, said that all fees had been paid in full relating to all Super Rugby matches, although there was an outstanding commercial dispute relating to one of 17 matches in 2012 - at which Kagiso Vantage had inflated their rates six-fold.

The Sharks (Pty) Ltd and the Western Province Rugby Union, who use the services of the company, expressed their shock at the announcement and disassociated themselves from it in a statement.