My answer to your other question is ‘Nobody says you have to have Boks in a Super 14 team to be successful’. Name me one team in Super rugby history that has run out on the field without any internationals. You must be dreaming if you think it is possible to compete at Super 14 level without world class players.

My comment on your figures was directed at what you suggest the player should be earning not on the current figures.

Why on earth should SARU pay a leading player ZAR2,500,000-00 a year nad then he still has all his sponsorship deals as additional income.

Are you suggesting a player should become rich enough in his 10-12 year career to never have to work again??

So the CAts have eight boks and they cannot make it happen. How many do the Sharks. Who the hell says you have to have boks in your team to make it happen!!!!!!

Where did I come up with my figures? My salaries are very accurate. If you feel they are incorrect then why not suggest some salaries yourself.

Kandas, I appreciate your passion but your heart is speaking and not your head. There are 12 teams in English rugby, well 13 really if you include Quins. The 13 teams have approximately 150 non-English players making up the squads as well as benefactors at each club who financially back each club. (very similar in soccer) Combined with RFU grants, the rugby structure works, I don’t disagree. However this model is very different to SA rugby. Saru income plus sponsorship can only support 5 professional teams max. The professional teams can be very strong with perhaps one or two world class foreigners in each squad but there should be no professional rugby in the other provinces.

If you take the best ’small province’ – Griquas and you asked them to play against the worst English team – Leeds, Griquas would most probably lose 8 out of 10. This illustrates that the small provinces should not be playing professional rugby. Sure, let their amateur structures have access to all the best support Saru can offer but realistically we should only have 150-165 professional players in SA.

Arrogance has nothing to with payment.

You say our coaches all come from schools? Not many of the current coaches ever coached at school. I agree some of the SA coaches are poor but we also have some excellent coaches in SA. If you read my earlier post, I suggested Saru should improve coaching in SA. It is not on the same level as other countries. This will cost a lot and the money that is supporting a poor professional structure should rather be spent on improving the current amateur structure. I said this in my earlier post.

Your comment that our administrators can not procure sponsorship is inaccurate. The leading provinces currently have some highly lucrative sponsorships.

Why would the IRB get involved in SA Rugby?

Lastly, you make a flippant comment about my Habana posting. Why? What is wrong with the posting? It just spells out the fact that he was never officially approached by Brumbies.

What has this got to do with growing the game globally?

By the way, a faily intelligent person called Nick Mallett says one of the problems in SA Rugby is the number of professional players so perhpas you might want to re-think your statement ‘The problem is most definitely not the amount of players’.

If you reply by making some smart remark about Mallett then perhaps you are part of the problem.

Andre Hough is a perfect example of someone who is simply not good enough to play professional rugby. He is a good club player.

I fully understand what got KAndas so worked up. Where the hell did you come up with those figures.

If you say there is to much money floating around in SA rugby being wasted on mediocre players. Why can that not be used to assist with development in Spears country. If needed. The Spears have already expressed that they have the ability to get the required financial backing they need.

A Police Officer was waiting along the side of a highway waiting to catch speeding drivers. There weren’t as many violators this day as usual.

The Police Officer sees an old car puttering along at 22 KPH.

He thinks to himself, “This driver is just as dangerous as a speeder!”

So he turns on his lights and pulls the driver over. Approaching the car, he notices that there are five elderly ladies – two in the front seat and three in the back – wide eyed and white as ghosts.

The driver, obviously confused, says to him, “Officer, I don’t understand, I was doing exactly the speed limit! What seems to be the problem?”

“Ma’am,” the officer replies, “you weren’t speeding, but you should know that driving slower than the speed limit can also be a danger to other drivers.”

“Slower than the speed limit” No sir, I was doing the speed limit ..exactly .. twenty-two kilometers an hour!” the old woman says a bit proudly pointing to the sign beside the road.

The Police Officer, trying to contain a chuckle, explains to her that “22″ was the highway number, not the speed limit.

A bit embarrassed, the woman grinned and thanked the officer for pointing out her error.

“But before I let you go, Ma’am. I have to ask .. is everyone in this car OK? These women seem awfully shaken and they haven’t muttered a single peep this whole time,” the officer asks with concern.

“Oh, they’ll be all right in a minute, officer. We just got off Highway 115.”

I agree that us bloggers have acertain power but I also believe this power is best utitlized within the confines of the PC.

For this reason I am with OO. We need to start a club from scratch that can in 3 years time challenge a Super14 franchise and beat them. Only then will we side-step the status quo and be able to negotiate for change.

So lets use this and other blogs to raise money and start a club with some super coaches and brilliant young players from SA and abroad.

Got me all uptight now.

Next thing you’ll tell me that two of the most professional leagues in the world, the Enlish Premier Football League (with 20 teams) and the English Premier Rugby Union League (with 12 teams) with automatic promotion/relegation clauses, are not successful!

Fact is our so-called administrators do not know how to secure sponsorships and how to generate income! But, then, how can they secue sponsors if they do not know how to treat sponsors? And our so-called coaching staff still believe treating players like schoolkids! But then, sorry, they don’t know anything different because that’s where they all come from – schools. School teachers and school coaches.

In these circumstances I don’t blame them if they feel threatened by real businessmen.

What I do blame them for is the fact that they do not stand back for the better of the game!

Oops, but then they lose their cosy salaries and have to become salesmen.

It’s time for the real stakeholders, the fans, to step in.

A better game for all!

And also jerry, I didn’t say the IRB must step in – I said we must take the lead and get the IRB involved. Big difference.

The problem is the totally incapable, inefficient administrations and coaching staff! Real pre-historic dinosaurs!