De Klerk dashes talk of merger
10 Feb 2012
The Lions have vehemently opposed a merger as a viable solution to accommodating the Kings in Super Rugby in 2013.
A fortnight ago the South African Rugby Union (Saru) committed to the Kings’ inclusion in the tournament, but explained that they had not yet established what they would do if the tournament was not expanded to include an additional South African team.
Last week Sanzar CEO Greg Peters said it was impossible to follow that route as the broadcast deal was negotiated around the existing tournament structure and is in place until 2015.
That left Saru in a difficult position and it now appears they will be forced to eliminate one of the South African franchises at the end of 2012. This follows Thursday’s President’s Council decision that there would be no merging of franchises.
The idea was peddled that the Lions and Cheetahs could revisit their previous alliance in the guise of the Cats. However, Cheetahs president Harold Verster consistently voiced his opposition to this as a solution. De Klerk has now joined him in taking that stance. ‘It is sincerely a tough one, but I am sure that we will in the interest of rugby arrive at the right consensus,’ he said.
De Klerk said Saru president Oregan Hoskins would review the discussion notes and make a public comment on this matter in the next few days.
177 Comments
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10 Feb 2012, 18:55 pm
@Jeez-150: the stormers and sharks will never lose against the lions .
10 Feb 2012, 19:00 pm
If SARU had any balls at all, they should be straight-up honest and go back to the Kings and tell them that they stuffed-up. SARU are in contract with Sanzar until the end of 2015. Pure and simple. The Kings have waited long enough for Super Rugby – they can just kick their heels a bit longer.
When the contract comes up for re-negotiation from 2016 – this will happen in 2015 – then SARU can put forward for the Kings admission to Super Rugby AND to a change in the format of the competition. The current conference system won’t work for obvious reasons so I would be in favour of the old log system where each team plays each other and the top 4 progress to the knock-out stage.
But alas, that won’t happen. Because no-one in SARU has the balls to do it.
10 Feb 2012, 19:06 pm
@IAAS-152: why should they do that?at the end of the day relegation SHOULD come into effect and i will put a few bob down at ladbrokes on the lions.
10 Feb 2012, 19:21 pm
@IAAS-152:
SA Rugby have been making, and breaking promises to the Kings/Spears since 2006.
What I do agree with is them having no balls.
10 Feb 2012, 19:44 pm
@PissAnt-154:
For the sake of SA Rugby, they will have to break yet another promise.
But in doing so, they must begin the process right now of brokering a deal with Sanzar to incorporate the Kings. They must approach Sanzar with a workable solution that can be taken to the overall sponsors of Super Rugby from 2016 – is this still News Corp, PA? They can’t go to Sanzar and say “we have a problem”. They must go with a workable solution. Mark Alexander said recently that the relationship between all parties is good. Now is the time to put forward these ideas.
SARU have dug themselves into a hole. Now they have to get out of it.
10 Feb 2012, 19:54 pm
@IAAS-155:
It is still newscorp yes.
I don’t believe SA Rugby needs to make their problem SANZAR’s to be honest. SA Rugby needs to find a suitable, sustainable solution themselves first. The Kings situation is merely an indication of the legacy of how things work in SA Rugby.
I mean consider this, SA has 70% of the viewership of this competition (SupeRugby), we have 5 times the player numbers compared to Oz & NZ.
We should, in all respect, walk this competition (and the Tri-Nations/Championship) year in and year out.
I know this might sound silly, but has anyone ever considered that SA is the sleeping giant of rugby union???
10 Feb 2012, 20:25 pm
@PissAnt-156:
It is very definitely a SARU problem. It would be easy to say “lets go the promotion/relegation route” but the Kings don’t even qualify for the Premier Division of the CC.
And I’m loathe to go the merger route as well. Those mergers in SA Rugby just don’t work. Well not in the case of the Cats. Franchises close together like the Bulls/Lions maybe. No never.
As I said in a post yesterday, there’s going to be blood on the dance floor.
Otherwise someone like Jurie Roux and Regan Hoskins will have to pay Cheeky a visit and say “listen swaer, I’ve got some bad news for you”. That should go down well.
10 Feb 2012, 20:28 pm
If all the franchises have agreements with Newscorp then it is simple.
EP Kings are out.
Then it is between SARU and EP. What it is anyway.
10 Feb 2012, 20:46 pm
@jondood-158:
It is Sanzar that has the agreement with Newscorp. And Sanzar have to sell the concept of the competition every 5 years to Newscorp. And last year began the conference format that we all love. So this contract expires end 2015 with South Africa obviously limited to 5 places.
This is about to get ugly. Can’t wait for the SARU AGM end March when a solution is expected to be announced.
10 Feb 2012, 21:25 pm
The Boks are effectively a merger of the various provinces. People forget that the Super series is a Sanzar regional competition, not a super provincial one.
Considering that SA has about 450,000 registered rugby players, of whom 200,000 are in the Eastern and Southern Cape, doesn’t it make sense to include the area as a regional franchise?
10 Feb 2012, 21:46 pm
Just dissolve the Cheetahs. No one actually lives in Bloem besides a few mielie boere and a few remaining Afrikaaners. They are a feeder team that cannot keep any of their players so they may as well just play VC and CC. It’s a better plan than having overseas teams buying players from they Cheetahs because they are not paying decent wages.
The government needs to sponsor the Kings so they can get decent players, mostly from the Cheetahs. The only other team that can potentially be dissolved would be the Sharks. Natal have only been playing 1st class rugby for a few years, so they’d hardly no the difference.
10 Feb 2012, 22:13 pm
@garth-161:
Lame comment sorry to say, here is why.
How many currie cups have they won in the last 15 years? How many have the Kings, Spears or Mighty Elephants won?
“No one actually lives in Bloem besides a few mielie boere and a few remaining Afrikaaners.” D**s comment, you can take you prejudice and go f*ck yourself.
“They are a feeder team that cannot keep any of their players so they may as well just play VC and CC”. So you want to weaken a team that produces some of the best players in south africa? Perhaps they should rather get more support. But garth is probably missing the logic part of his brain.
“The government needs to sponsor the Kings so they can get decent players, mostly from the Cheetahs”. Ermm, what. So why not just have the government sponsor the Cheetahs if the Kings are going to take their players in any case. See above comment about logic.
“The only other team that can potentially be dissolved would be the Sharks. Natal have only been playing 1st class rugby for a few years, so they’d hardly no the difference.” Why do you want to dissolve any team? Which team do you support? I’m guessing WP?
10 Feb 2012, 23:16 pm
How did you guess? WP forever.
The government and Saru want to promote rugby in the Eastern Cape for obvious reasons. They want it to become a that is supported and represented by all South African’s. That simply means they need black players so black people can start supporting the game. There are more black players in the Eastern Cape than anywhere in the country, so it’s not really negotiable. The Kings need to be given their spot if transformation is going to take place. If I had to pick a team, and by the sounds of it they will have to pick 1 if the Kings are going to play, I’d pick the Cheetahs as they have historically been the weakest team financially. I know the Lions have struggled lately, but they have a long history and I doubt if SARU would want to stop playing rugby in the financial hub and at Ellis Park. I don’t see that happening. The Stormers and the Bulls cannot be dissolved as they have to much history.
The Sharks have done well of late, by winning some trophies and bring some black players through their ranks and becoming one of the big three powerhouses of rugby in the region. However, only 2 or so decades ago they were playing in the CC B league while EP were one of the top 5. Their rugby history is not as strong as the other teams.
11 Feb 2012, 01:22 am
@garth-163: great post bud ,although i would like the lions to be caned.as wp supporters we need to look out for our neighbours from the eastern cape.absolutely right about bloemfontein.i normally only used it as a pitstop on my way to gauteng…..probably the kukkest place in south africa.
11 Feb 2012, 01:33 am
Oh bliksem, the people on the internet are getting dumber by the day. Must be something in the wine.
11 Feb 2012, 02:10 am
@garth-163: Garf. Your mielie boer comment, implies you would most likely associate yourself with the Sharks or WP, but since you were slating the Sharks there was one option.
The fact that the poodle naaier agrees with your comments is worse then any insult I can throw your way, enjoy the company..
11 Feb 2012, 02:25 am
what’s wrong with mielieboer?at least they were not called awb boere although you would find the biggest concentration of khaki clad,beer bellied and bearded ugly ******** walking the streets of any south african city.
11 Feb 2012, 03:36 am
@clm-164:
A Western Province supporter! Now I understand your stupidity and arrogance.
And if you’re so keen to “look out for your neighbours from the eastern cape”, merge with them, create the Storming Elephants, you feckwit.
Easy peasy (you should understand that infantile language, given your mental capacity)
11 Feb 2012, 04:24 am
@JA-JA-165:
Nee, dis die blou goed in die spirits wat hom so opvoeter, en hy was nie juis slim toe hy begin suip het nie
11 Feb 2012, 04:29 am
@Joe Maher-168:
> And if you’re so keen to “look out for your neighbours from the eastern cape”, merge with them, create the Storming Elephants, you feckwit.
Dis “a marriage made in heaven” hulle was albei 15 jaar laas iets
11 Feb 2012, 04:39 am
@David-160:
> Considering that SA has about 450,000 registered rugby players, of whom 200,000 are in the Eastern and Southern Cape, doesn’t it make sense to include the area as a regional franchise?
Could you please give us a verified figure of how many players EXACTLY there are in the Eastern Cape?
It seems like just another ANC BEE type justification for social engineering
And why do they need to play there if it’s an economic graveyard?
If player from Kimberley, Potch and Mpumalanga leave to play for the Cheetahs, Lions and Bulls, why MUST Eastern Cape players stay there?
11 Feb 2012, 05:26 am
@victoriabok-171: Hey bru. Don’t dis your leaders. You need to support them.
11 Feb 2012, 07:26 am
@garth
Your comments are racist and idiotic. If you were a true rugby supporter you would agree that the best players should be picked, regardless of race. Are you seriosly going to argue that Mpho Mbiyozo is better than Juan Smith or Brussouw? What do you think those players are going to do if the Cheetahs become extinct, play for Racist Watson in the E Cape? They’re going to go overseas and the Boks will suffer for it. It seems it is your mind that needs transforming, not the colour of rugby in SA.
11 Feb 2012, 08:39 am
@garth-172:
Bite me
11 Feb 2012, 08:43 am
hey Garth, that’s not on man! Would you like it if we referred to you by what you do?
You bloody Prison Warder!
11 Feb 2012, 08:49 am
Garf is more likely to be an inmate.
Mongril.
12 Feb 2012, 15:27 pm
@garth-172:
I see you been getting maxed amps between that gum chow of yours.
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