The South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU) celebrated its 10th birthday on Wednesday, an occasion that will be officially commemorated at an event later this year.
Unity between the former SA Rugby Board (SARB) and the former SA Rugby Union (SARU) was concluded in November 1991 and the inaugural General Meeting of the newly-constituted SARFU was held in Kimberley on March 20, 1992.
The Northern Cape capital was chosen as the venue as it had been the birthplace of both SARB in 1889 and SARU (originally as the SA Coloured Rugby Board) in 1896.
Unity and the formation of SARFU followed more than 18 months of negotiations. At the inaugural meeting an interim Executive Committee, comprising the Executive Committees of both SARB and SARU, was put in place and the Constitution of SARFU was adopted. The late Dr Danie Craven and Mr Ebrahim Patel were the first co-Presidents of the new body.
The formation of SARFU paved the way for South Africa's readmission to the international arena after eight years of isolation and ultimately led to the awarding of Rugby World Cup 1995 to the country by the International Rugby Board.
"SARFU was founded on three core principles," says current president and a key figure in the SARU delegation at unity Silas Nkanunu. "First was the establishment of a non-racial, non-political and democratic rugby community, both on and off the field to ensure the leveling of the playing fields at all levels.
"Secondly we aimed to uplift the game in disadvantaged areas and establish it in areas where it was not being played. The focus was placed on the development of infrastructure and human resources potential.
"Thirdly, we had to ensure that South Africa reclaimed its place amongst the world's top rugby playing Nations.
"Over the years, our focus has shifted and new goals have been set out of necessity. But, ten years on, we can say with confidence that we have come a long way towards achieving these objectives.
"Obvious highlights that stand out are the Rugby World Cup victory in 1995, the formation of SANZAR and the introduction of the Rugby Super 12 and Tri-Nations, as well as the Vodacom Tri-Nations victory of 1998. However, look further at milestones that might not have been highly publicised, but which have also contributed to the success of SARFU.
"This includes the historic Conference Against Racism in 2000 that resulted in the adoption of the SA Rugby Charter, the unification of schools and students rugby and the expansion of the youth rugby programme to include six National weeks.
"There has also been the introduction of the Spoornet Excellence Programme and Nike All Star camp, which have produced several Springboks and several National Under-19 players respectively.
"Assistance has been given to many previously disadvantaged clubs and we have created opportunities at all levels for coaches, through the Elite Coaches Project, and referees, through initiatives such as the National Panels and fast tracking projects. SARFU has also established or upgraded over 50 facilities nationally," Nkanunu said.
Other notable SARFU milestones over the past 10 years include the launch of the SARFU Game Development Programme in 1993, the SA Under-19 team's win at the FIRA tournament in 1994, the Emerging Springboks' victory at the All Africa Games in Harare in 1996, the introduction of the SuperSport National Club Championships in 1998, the introduction of the Vodacom Cup in 1998, the Under-21 victory in the SANZAR/UAR tournament in 1999, the introduction of a Provincial Under-19 tournament in 1999, the establishment of SARFU Rugby Academies in Port Elizabeth (2000) and Cape Town (2002), the awarding of SARFU colours to all former pre-unity National players as part of the "Yesterday's Heroes" project, the SA Under-23's victories in the Africa Cup in 2000 and 2001, the re-structuring of SARFU and the creation of a commercial arm - SA Rugby (Pty) Ltd - in 2001, and the launch of women's rugby in 2001.
Nkanunu admitted that there had been several low points during the first decade of SARFU's existence. "Events surrounding a proposed commission of enquiry into rugby in 1997 did much harm to the image of our game. This was a terrible period our history and all involved in rugby should strive to ensure that this is never repeated.
"There has been an extremely high turnover of coaches at Springbok level. Some changes may have been made too hastily and others were clearly necessary. Looking ahead, however, we must seek to establish consistency, exercise patience, encourage excellence and provide support".
Amongst the major challenges facing SARFU and SA Rugby (Pty) Ltd in the future are meeting the objectives of the Vision 2003 strategy - Transform, Grow, Win and Make Money - securing the country's status as one of the top three rugby playing countries in the world, fully exploiting the commercial value vested in the sport and making rugby a National sport by creating further opportunities for all South Africans to take part.