There is a reason most of these “superstars” that were originally from the SEC/EC leave the place…its a complete dump…

all very well that they should “sign a star here and there and they’ll be all right”, but their ceo, tony mckeever went on record saying he doesn’t want the players of the team that gets relegated. he asked the question why he would want players that couldn’t do the job in the first place (off course forgetting that even if a sa team finishes within the top 5, they can still be relegated). he went on to state how visionless the current sa s14 coaches are.

therefore, if they want to do it on their own, (they won’t be able to do it within twelve months, i can guarantee you that) let them do it over three years in the cc.

No-one is saying that the Stormers aren’t kak. I am a Stormers fan, and I am well aware that they have a good chance of being relegated this year. In short, they are sucking badly.

All I’m saying is that De Villiers isn’t doing himself or his team any favours by turning them into the whining cry-baby losers of the Super 14 before they’ve even entered the competition.

bulls v stormers

74 – 14

full team / not 14 players

super 12 match

not practice match

stacked with springboks

stormers should be relegated before the S14 starts then…

putting the relegation system into the S14 is a timebomb and it is going to cause a lot of **** and the spears will always be looked at as the negative force in SA rugby because of that.

i am totally against the relegation system.

i have said it many times before – yet again SARU – due to political or whatever pressure managed to stuff a potentially good situation up.

yes implement a ‘type’ of relegation system. but not a S14 relegation system. this must happen at CC level, our best 4 or 5 teams should represent our country in the S14.

the spears might not have made it this year, but they would surely have build up a little fortress by the end of 2007 to compete effectively in teh CC where the top 5 teams goes through to represent us in the S14?

it would have given them time to put proper structures in place, de villiers to build up a competitive squad – enough time to sign up a propers sponsor and put strucuters in place.

but due to issues that pressurized ‘quick’ change it all went for a ball of **** again. trying to make everyone happy.

within those 2 years SARU could have helped by financially backing these guys too.

i just get irritated when people write this area off as being useless and no good because of the emotion created in the media regarding this whole thing.

yes the system is flawed, but we need to ensure these guys get up to a level where they can compete, bitching and moaning is not going to help anyone in any way

i doublt it if the cheetahs ever claimed that they were doing the best at transformation. all i’m saying is that in the current springbok set-up and the current u19 sa side, the sec’s claim doesn’t stack up. it seems like the bulls are even showing them up on the numbers.

now i haven’t seen the elite squad, but i know ashwell rafferty was part of the squad a few years ago and he never really made it anywhere.

You must remember, you are not coaching schollboy rugby anymore. Wake up and smell the blood.

I have to agree with him on one thing though. The Province talent seekers don’t know a thing. They have lost more talent than I can count.

“Asked about an allegation on former Springbok spokesperson Mark Keohane’s website that Pretorius said he was being framed, the Springbok said he never said he was “framed”, as had been alleged”

the fact that most of our coloured or black rugby players comes from the SEC region is not thumbsucking – it is fact.

the reason that the players do not play for this region is very simple – the unions can’t afford them – they need money!

the bulls have budgeted R30Mil for 2006 on players salaries and bonusses for the Super 14 alone – forget the rest of the year.

to put this into perspective for you – unions like SWD, border, griffons, griquas, etc. have to survive on budgets of less than R5mil a year in the best case scenario’s.

this regions needs a sponsor full stop. can you imagine what these guys can do with R30mil? comparing this region and its players to our top unions is ignorant and unfair.

rugby is professional – players look after themselves and obviously goes to a union that offers them the better package. SARU with a sponsor need to give these guys a chance to keep their players in the union and region.

as mentioned above players like kabamba, fortuin and a host of others are simply poached from this area with higher paid packages, you cannot fault the players for doing so, but you can fault SARU and the general media spin we see every day.

one of the things hoskins mentioned that he would love to concentrate on is the spears region, to help the guys – which is more than that idiot clown BVR has done – his buddies that got kicked out of the unions in these regions (for fraud and theft amongst other things) ran to him for supportand they are threatening to sue the unions…..

structures need to be put in place to look after the smaller unions – naas botha mentioned this some time ago, SA rugby standards are getting poorer because the big unions rape and pilladge the small country cousins, something needs to be done.

it is easy to crit these okes saying they will never amount to anything – but level the playing field a bit and you will see a completely different story.

but i guess the old guard is so far up each others arses that they will do anything to prevent this from happening, even use the media to constantly put this area in a bad light.

has anyone ever gone as far as reading local newspapers from the area, papers like the daily dispatch? they are online too – you will get a completely different perspective on things and media reports that contradicts most of the bullshit we see in the mainstream web-sites and newspapers. now it is not a case of who is right or wrong – but suddenly you – as supporter starts asking questions and believe me, the powers that be ignores you most of the time if you try and get clarity.

other guys that knows the area quite well can probably list all the players this region has lost over the years – now ask yourself, if the playing fields were level, where administrators actually helped and developed this area to assist them in keeping these players – do you reckon they would be competitive? or the walk overs they are branded as today?

stop believing everything you read and look at the bigger picture