Oregan Hoskins is a rugby administrator who served as president of the

South African Rugby Union The South African Rugby Union (SARU) is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to World Rugby. It was established in 1992 as the South African Rugby Football Union, from the merger of the South African Rugby Board a ...

from 2006 to 2016, and as vice-president of

World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

(formerly known as the International Rugby Board) from 2012 to 2016.

Overview of policies

He was appointed to his role as SARU president in 2006, having previous been the president of the KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union. Noted events that have occurred during his tenure as President include

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

victory at the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

. One of Hoskins' key policies has been an increase in the rate of racial integration of South African blacks into the South African National team and the

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

competition. Soon after being appointed as President of SARU, he commented that there was an anti-South African bias in rugby. Hoskins specifically accused Australian and New Zealand referees saying "Australia and New Zealand need to look at their referees when it comes to games involving South Africa. There is a genuine bias against South African teams." Among the policies that Hoskins has promoted and encouraged is the development of a South African

Haka Haka (; plural ''haka'', in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial performance art in Māori culture. It is often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted or chanted accompani ...

based on some kind of traditional Zulu or

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

war dance A war dance is a dance involving mock combat, usually in reference to tribal warrior societies where such dances were performed as a ritual connected with endemic warfare. Martial arts in various cultures can be performed in dance-like settin ...

. This, Hoskins noted, would help more of the South African population to identify directly with the sport.

Criticism and controversy

Selection of Black players

Hoskins has encouraged the South African Super 14 teams, and the national team, to involve a higher number of black players. This policy was encouraged after the ANC chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for sport, Butana Komphela, criticized SARU heavily.

Conflict with Jake White

His period as president occurred over a period of continued clashes between the SARU administration and coach

Jake White Jake White (born 13 December 1963 as ''Jacob Westerduin'') is a professional rugby union coach and former coach of the South African national team – the ''Springboks'' – whom he coached to victory in 2007 Rugby World Cup and the 2004 Tri ...

. After having led South Africa to the country's second world cup victory, White was informed by the administration that he was expected to apply to retain his position. White was not considered to remain as coach, while he argued that he should have since it was stated in his contract that he need not reapply. Hoskins commented on the dispute, saying that "Jake was seen as someone who was never prepared to give the whole story and relied on public sentiment after the World Cup to support his cause as a martyr... The unfortunate thing is that Jake is now portrayed as the victim and the council as a bunch of idiots who just did not like him after we won the World Cup."

2007 World Cup Controversies

Yet another controversy involving Hoskins was the selection of

Luke Watson Luke Asher Watson (born 26 October 1983 in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, Port Elizabeth) is a South African former rugby union footballer who can play at flank or eighthman. He has represented and captained the South African Schools rugby team ...

for the 2007 World Cup team. White and his selectors (Peter Jooste and former national coach Ian Macintosh), submitted a list of 45 players to the South African Rugby Union. Without White's knowledge, Watson was added to the list as a 46th player by SARU President Hoskins, fellow SARU executive council member Koos Basson, and Springbok team manager Zola Yeye. It was later revealed that Hoskins and other members of the SARU presidency (Deputy President Mike Stofile and Vice President Basson) had approached White and his selectors a week prior to the announcement to champion the inclusion of Watson and Odwa Ndungane. Hoskins was also criticized for his failure to attend the homecoming of the World Cup winning team as it arrived home from the tournament, as well as his failure to appear on-field after the final. One member of the administration of the South African Rugby Supporters Union suggested that these two noted absences were due to Hoskins' rift with coach Jack White.

References

External links

- South African Rugby Union official homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoskins, Oregan Living people South African rugby union administrators People from Pietermaritzburg World Rugby Committee members Year of birth missing (living people)