You are normally taught not to engage in writing about topics when it is still too raw or too emotional, but for the hell of me I cannot fathom SA Rugby’s decision by booting the Lions out of Super Rugby in favour of the Kings.
This topic has been abused more than concert goers at a Phil Collins live show, but let me state a couple of things categorically.
As much as the Lions do not deserve a place in Super Rugby given their performances over the last couple of years, neither does the Kings on the principle of what was decided today.
Yes I have heard all the arguments of what a competition like Super Rugby will bring to the area (Eastern Cape) given all the clubs and rugby schools they have, in fact, I constructed most of those arguments – but to think a one-year deal in Super Rugby is going to change that is not only short-sighted, it is irresponsible bordering on criminal!
Given that this circus has been ongoing since 2005, I also believe it bloody high time we find a resolution to this problem, but this decision, and mark my words on this, is worse for the Kings and rugby in the Eastern Cape than the time they got shafted out of a Super Rugby guarantee in 2006/2007.
For the record (dear administrators in SA Rugby), the people of the Eastern Cape has been begging and fighting for a rugby solution since 2005 which would put them on equal footing with all the other rugby regions, not some amateurish, political and pathetic hand-out which will not only see them be the laughing stock in Super Rugby next year, but also back to square one in the South African rugby wilderness at the conclusion of the tournament after they get relegated – and they will get relegated.
For months we heard how the Kings, if given the opportunity, will lure top quality rugby players to the region to boost their ranks and be competitive. Pardon my ignorance but what rugby player will leave a lucrative contract abroad (or even at any other participating Super Rugby franchise locally) for a one-year deal at the Kings? Just in what province of La-la land do you reside in?
If anything, the Kings would do damn well to sign the now relegated Lions’ top performing players if they are not offered longer, more lucrative, and therefore more secure deals at other franchises like the Bulls, Sharks, Stormers or even Cheetahs. At best the Kings will sign fringe players from those franchises (read journeymen) who struggle to make the top side or 32-man squads.
Super Rugby history also suggest that any new franchise starting out can at best hope for a 20% return on victories in the toughest rugby competition in the world in their first year (Force won 1 game in their first year and Rebels 3 out of 16 played) – how the Kings plan to defy this trend is a mystery.
So my question is quite simply this; ‘What is the f$#king point of this decision?’
No seriously, what is the point.
We now sit with a union that has been utter shit for almost a decade now in the Lions who will no doubt become even worse now given they are booted. Not only that, they are replaced by a team who only has a 1-year guarantee in the world’s toughest competition with less than 3 months to sign ‘superstars’ (by offering a no-guarantee 1-year deal) to give them any hope in hell before pre-season for the competition starts. I don’t care how good a coach you are, you stand no chance.
If any Kings supporters or supporters of rugby in the Eastern Cape sees this decision as a victory for rugby for the region please highlight the obvious facts supporting this which I am missing, because I am desperate to find them.
This decision has only one outcome, a Kings outfit will find themselves back at square one following the tournament in 2013 after being relegated by an equally poor Lions outfit who would not have been able to improve one iota given their relegation today. In short, SA Rugby will not move forward from this circus starting in 2005 one inch – because this is not a solution, it’s a cop-out.
Where we wanted a victory for rugby, we are again served a dish of bullshit where the game of rugby in SA loses.
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August 16th, 2012 at 3:48 pm
This is typical SARU we all now this is bull@#@.What I can not understand is every man and it’s dog have got something to say,but nobody takes the willy out of the Id@%$$ who made this decision,this have been voted in as you mentioned by Rugby Administrators from the unions in S.A.It is time that the people start asking there union bosses to man up and explain what happened
at this meetings.
August 16th, 2012 at 3:58 pm
If the guys running the Kings are smart they will realize that there is only one game they need to win next year.
The P/R game against the Lions.
All planning and contracts need to be based on that goal.
Signing players for 1 season should not be a problem at all. Many players have short contracts like that already.
ie. Kankowski in Japan. Matfield’s and Smit’s short stints in the NH. SBW. The list goes on.
At the right price you may contract a superstar for 1 game.
August 16th, 2012 at 4:04 pm
SARU have clearly done this to avoid their previous R45 mill promise…
August 16th, 2012 at 4:09 pm
But I’ve always said P/R is a load of crap.
Automatic or via a game does not really matter. It creates a 2 tier system within the league. Sponsors and big money, will migrate towards the teams with security beyond one year and those at risk of being relegated will permanently languish in the bottom group.
Would have been better to just shut down the GLRU.
August 16th, 2012 at 4:22 pm
The Kings administrators are going to contest the length of the time that they have in the S15, so maybe they will get lucky.
At the same time, if the Kings can crack the CC as well then they have a chance of at least earning some money if they aren’t in the S15
August 16th, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Reply to Timeo @ 3:58 pm:
There will be 2 games, 1 home 1 away
August 16th, 2012 at 4:46 pm
But will they get a decent sponsor for one year, to afford the dream team for at least 1 year? Will probably be some para-statal like Sasol, Telkom or Eksdom sponsoring them…
Reality (as most people are saying) is that we just do not have the resources for 5 teams. On the plus side, all the other SA sides will at least have 10 points in the bag on day 1 of the 2013 competition! And who knows, maybe we unearth a new star somewhere down the line.
The decision has been made, let’s live with it as best we can. And good luck to Crooky Watson and his clan – enjoy the gravy train with Puke and company.
August 16th, 2012 at 5:04 pm
In our political world, look to the money. SAIL and Gumede.
August 16th, 2012 at 5:07 pm
Reply to Ollie @ 4:23 pm:
Should then read:
…..are smart they will realize that there is only two games they need…
thanks
August 16th, 2012 at 5:13 pm
With the hunger for rugby that must exist in PE, they are assured to attract more fans than the Lions did this year and with all the politics involved they’ll attract more attention also.
Attention is what sponsors want. The kind of attention does not really matter.
August 16th, 2012 at 5:25 pm
Reply to Timeo @ 5:13 pm:
Attention is what sponsors want. The kind of attention does not really matter.
——–
Even if it comes by way of free tickets, transport,
a Coke, a hotdog and a T-shirt from the sponsor?
August 16th, 2012 at 5:52 pm
I think the outcome as far as promotion and relegation makes the most sense.
Where the joke lies though is the fact that Jurie Roux has now found a solution for the Kings fiasco and them staying there will depend on them winning the promotion and relegation play off against the Lions next year.
But where this joke becomes a bit of a flat one is why don’t the Lions get the opportunity to play pro otion and relegation matches against the Kings this year?
A team that isn’t even in the Currie Cup Premiership?
I’ll tell you the punchline though, because the Kings doesn’t have. Snowball’s chance in hell if they had to.
August 16th, 2012 at 5:52 pm
Reply to Timeo @ 3:58 pm:
No company will invest substantially on a one-year deal guarantee.
Even if the Kings manage to scrape together decent funds who are they going to contract? Who are they going to buy out of existing contracts on the same one-year guarantee? They will pick up the Catrakilis’ of this world and similar fringe players but very little, if any, quality players.
The Lions, with established resources could not even contract themselves out of trouble (which they knew about since 2011) when it comes to players – the Kings come from scratch, 3 months out before pre-season starts and with European contracts already signed.
If this had any chance they needed to be given a 3-year guarantee.
August 16th, 2012 at 6:12 pm
Time for the real big boss of Southern Hemisphere rugby… John O’Neil to step in and stop this pathetic nonsense…
August 16th, 2012 at 7:25 pm
Reply to Morné @ 5:52 pm:
You are stuck on them having to be ready for SR in 6 months. They don’t. They have to be ready to beat the Lions in 12 months.
I’m not saying they will be, but it’s doable and the next year it will be easier.
Don’t forget, that if they were given a 3-year guarantee, another team would have had to face the P/R game and the uncertainty that goes with it.
P/R is a crock, anyway you structure it. Franchises should be rewarded on commercial grounds only.
August 16th, 2012 at 7:29 pm
Reply to Boertjie @ 5:25 pm:
If that works for the marketing/public relations crowd that supplies the money, who cares?
August 16th, 2012 at 7:32 pm
Reply to Boertjie @ 5:25 pm:
By the way, I’ve heard that kinesio tape scored big at the Olympics, without having to pay a cent to IOC.
August 16th, 2012 at 7:50 pm
Reply to Timeo @ 7:25 pm:
No I am stuck on the fact that this is no solution for the problem that is the Kings/Spears and rugby in the Eastern Cape.
The mere fact that they most likely will approach the Super Rugby season in 2013 with the view to just win the promotion/relegation match is more than enough evidence to this pathetic decision.
I want rugby in the Eastern Cape to take its rightful place – this decision is insulting and even patronizing.
August 16th, 2012 at 7:58 pm
Reply to Morné @ 7:50 pm:
What or how is your solution then?
August 16th, 2012 at 8:12 pm
Reply to Timeo @ 7:58 pm:
That is an article or thread on its own, been discussed many times on here before, but will put it forward again no problem.
Just not tonight
August 16th, 2012 at 8:19 pm
Lions sponsorship deals with MTN and Redefine and Discovery are three year affairs that run out next year. Second the Lions do not have any debt so nobody has a hold on them. Third the last time a test game was staged at FNB it was a full house, and the Lions used all the proceeds to pay their debt off. They’ve a had a full house England test AND they’re getting an FNB test this year…
Guess what…
The Lions are going to be able to hold onto players…
August 16th, 2012 at 8:22 pm
Reply to Morné @ 7:50 pm:
The mere fact that they most likely will approach the Super Rugby season in 2013 with the view to just win the promotion/relegation match is more than enough evidence to this pathetic decision.
——–
SEE NEW THREAD.
Exactly Watson’s point.
August 16th, 2012 at 8:25 pm
Reply to Morné @ 8:12 pm:
More than 3 sentences and it’s just many words. Not a solution.
August 16th, 2012 at 11:44 pm
Smacks of political interference. Typical ANC cadre mentality of entitlement. If does not matter if they dont have the ability! Lets just drag every one down to our level. Kinda like the education model.
S0 lets take a team from a lower league, which they have never won and promote them way passed their level. Sounds familiar, see South African government.
What good is going to do the Kings brand when they are crushed 50-0 or even 75-0??? All that talk of bringing rugby to the EC when your team gets wolloped. Maybe they want a Bafana, maybe they are happy with that level of Shit.
We do also know that once the Kings are in they, no matter how they get hamered, are in for life.The relegation talk will disappear.
So once again at a time when our rugby was becoming unified and teams were co-operating we get divided again. All that hard work gone.
I do like the EC and would love to see rugby grow there. I will not barrack against a Saffa team but I can only see heartache on the horizon.
I hope the Kings prove me wrong, I really really do.
August 17th, 2012 at 7:53 am
Reply to Timeo @ 8:25 pm:
Here is just one sentence:
Entrench the Kings into Currie Cup premier division for 3 years until 2016 when a 6th team will be allowed into the competition.
August 17th, 2012 at 11:07 am
Reply to Kevin Rack @ 11:44 pm:
Bit off the point, but here is another
example of ANC thinking:
Mbalula wants to creat a professional
netbal league in SA, paying 2 million
women – yes, two million, to play the
game.
PS. Netball is not even an Olympic sport.
Try and work out the cost.
August 17th, 2012 at 11:35 am
Reply to Morné @ 7:53 am:
What happened to that plus the R45 mill that up until yesterday had been touted as the solution?
August 17th, 2012 at 11:45 am
Reply to bryce_in_oz @ 11:35 am:
It was a rumour that, which the Kings denied.
KDK is on record saying there are no alternative competitions structures for them, there is also no compensation.
I can only see this go one way, litigation.
August 17th, 2012 at 12:32 pm
Disagree.i like relagation.
August 17th, 2012 at 1:03 pm
Reply to Morné @ 7:53 am:
Fair but too late now.
They should have done that 6 years ago when they erased the Spears. That train have left the station.
You assume there will be a 16th team. I think, that is as unrealistic an expectation as the one that said the Kings could be the 15th team and play in the Aus conference. What to do then?
August 17th, 2012 at 2:18 pm
August 17th, 2012 at 2:37 pm
Reply to Timeo @ 1:03 pm:
SANZAR has already indicated their first move would be to expand rugby into Asia and Argentina – I will bet my house teams will increase.
Not too late – Kings can be one of the top 6 teams in CC premier division, entrenched for 2013, 2014 and 2015. Three years to establish their brand and player pool in SA’s domestic scene which is also appealing to sponsors since all games are shown.
It would have given them time at a level just below SR level to establish themselves.
August 17th, 2012 at 3:31 pm
Reply to Morné @ 2:37 pm:
The Kings have been promised something in the future for too long already. The Lions created the opportunity, it’s a smart move by suru to use it. Whichever team loses the P?R next year can still be entrenched in the CC and be ready when (if) expansion happens.
But I don’t think it will.
Talk about expansion is just that.
Geography, time-zones, cost, market sizes. Too many negatives to make it viable.
August 17th, 2012 at 4:15 pm
Reply to Timeo @ 3:31 pm:
A promise is one thing, been afforded an opportunity to actually make something happen is quite another.
This is not fulfilling a promise by SA Rugby – this is setting the Kings up to fail.
August 17th, 2012 at 5:09 pm
Frankly I do not care who it is one ofthem will be at the bottom and will be the punching bag for the other teams.
We do not have ennough good players to fill 5 teams and that is teh bottom line.
DOn’t enjoy Supershit in anycase anymore, first week of CC was better than the last few weeks of supershit ping pong.
Even VC is better to watch
August 17th, 2012 at 5:29 pm
Reply to Morné @ 4:15 pm:
Failure or success for the Kings are entirely up to them. All they need is a good plan and good management. If they don’t have those in place after all these years then they certainly deserve to fail and be forgotten.
The Aussies created 2 teams from nothing and both did okay in their first year.
August 17th, 2012 at 5:38 pm
Exactly
August 17th, 2012 at 6:47 pm
Reply to Timeo @ 5:29 pm:
Okay?
The Force after all these years have a 30% record.
The Rebels have won 3 out of 16 played in their first year, and 4 out of 16 the next – and these two teams have/had international stars in their line ups which the Kings will not have.
You can have the best management and coaches in the world, if you haven’t got the resources/players to be competitive you have no chance in hell. And there is no way in hell they can put a competitive team together in 3 months.
95% of Kings players next year will have limited, to zero Super Rugby experience.
I cannot see them win a single game.
They are set up to fail, plain and simple.
August 17th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
Reply to Morné @ 6:47 pm:
For the record:
Force won 1 game out of 13 in their first year.
Rebels 3 out of 16.
August 17th, 2012 at 9:27 pm
They are not “set up” for f€€€sakes,
They want à shot.
Get thé blinkers off.
August 18th, 2012 at 2:43 am
Yeah. How can it be a setup if they get what they’ve been asking for for years?
I don’t get this skittishness all of a sudden. You’ve been advocating for them for years. They get what they want and you realize it will be a train wreck and now have regrets. Others have been predicting a train wreck all along.
August 18th, 2012 at 3:04 am
If I recall correctly they were told they will play in February already. That makes it 12 months to get ready.
In fact they were promised a spot in 2013, right after they lost out to the rebels. That’s about years ago.
August 18th, 2012 at 3:08 am
Reply to Morné @ 6:47 pm:
Yep exactly… they should not be there…
August 18th, 2012 at 3:21 am
Reply to bryce_in_oz @ 3:08 am:
Until they are at least in the top 6 of the CC… simple really…
August 18th, 2012 at 8:15 am
Reply to Duiwel @ 9:27 pm:
Youc all this giving them a shot?
They are a CC 1st division side. You do not give CC 1st division sides a shot.
Reply to Timeo @ 2:43 am:
The decision was made in January, the other franchises true to form threatened SA Rugby again.
Remember the whole line from SA Rugby of 6 fitting into 5? One team was always going to lose out and up and till this week the Kings did not know if it was them or the Lions.
They will be as much as a train-wreck as the Force, Rebels and Cheetahs were in their first year of participation. The difference here is none of those teams had relegation hanging over their head after the first year of participation.
I have been advocating that a RUGBY SOLUTION be found for them for years now – not some clap-trap cop-out.
This is not what I have been asking for or advocated for years, neither is it what they asked for.
If you want references, check every single column I wrote on the subject.
August 18th, 2012 at 8:18 am
Reply to bryce_in_oz @ 3:08 am:
No, they should not. This is not a solution to the problem. But its what we have become used to from SA Rugby.
As I said in the article, this decision will be far more damaging to rugby in this region than the decision to pull them out of participation in 2007.
August 19th, 2012 at 10:27 am
Why not have three conferences – each with as many teams as they need/want – with the top two from each going into a home+away super six competition to determine the SR winner?
A fourth conference could even be added to progress to a super 8 knock-out.
But no … it must be this circus.
August 19th, 2012 at 10:28 am
The winner of our conference then wins the Currie Cup after a separate final with the 2nd placed team.