‘Have the balls to stand up to these dinosaurs’
2 Feb 2006
Tony McKeever, CEO of the Spears, has furiously called on Saru president Brian van Rooyen not to amend a President’s Council decision that would see the Eastern Cape franchise replace the lowest-placed South African side in next year’s Super 14.
McKeever reacted with indignation upon hearing that the five current franchises have formed a coalition in an attempt to thwart the Spears’ inclusion in the competition.
“I cannot believe what I am hearing. Their presidents agreed to this and they are not in a position to renege on the decision taken by the President’s Council,” McKeever fumed in the Cape Argus.
“It is nauseating for them to say we are poaching players. They have been taking ours for years and alienating themselves as real dinosaurs for the good of South African rugby.
“This document that has been tabled for (today) was agreed in principle and they cannot now just turn around and sing a different tune. We have already assembled a squad, we went out and found a R15m sponsor (sports clothing firm ISC) and we have set up a PE base.
“It’s now up to SA Rugby to have the balls to stand up to these dinosaurs and for Brian van Rooyen to put his foot down,” said McKeever.
Meanwhile the Argus quotes an unnamed source in one of the five franchise’s administration, reflecting the anti-Spears sentiment that has descended on the rest of the country following their series of heavy defeats in pre-season warm ups.
“It’s ridiculous that the Spears, who are clearly not yet even ready to be competitive in the Currie Cup, can just walk into next year’s Super 14 at the expense of one of the other sides,” said one top rugby official, on condition of anonymity.
“Besides the fact that they are poaching our Under-21s when they pledged to develop local talent from the Southern Cape region. In their friendlies they played few black players from their own areas.”
Another top rugby administrator described the decision to give the Spears Super 14 status as both “premature and ridiculous”.
“Nowhere in sport would you find a team punching so far above their weight. Before they are even considered for the Super 14, they should prove that they can be competitive in the Currie Cup. We could end up with a situation where the Spears finish sixth or seventh in the Currie Cup but still get to play in the Super 14.”
“That means that not only would one of us (the Big Five) have to make way for the Spears, but we would also have to hand over players whose salaries we pay and are on our books. There is no way we can accept this.”
44 Comments
2 Feb 2006, 16:28 pm
Right on, Tony.
2 Feb 2006, 16:30 pm
HKGK…..
2 Feb 2006, 16:36 pm
Pierre
So you don’t think the Spears will be BLOWN AWAY in the Super14???
2 Feb 2006, 16:38 pm
Ja, they probably will. But no worse than what we South Africans have become accustomed to.
2 Feb 2006, 16:38 pm
Fiasco
2 Feb 2006, 16:39 pm
I like this.
The spears wont even reach the semi’s of the Vodacom Cup.Let alone the Currie Cup….
I agree with Keo that the Spears should let Ball do the talking.
They are simply not good enough and will never be.
2 Feb 2006, 16:41 pm
The Super 12/ Super 14 is a farce, anyway. The whole tournament ought to be closed down. It’s bad for our players (especially us Saffers, with all the extra travelling) and it takes the gloss off Test matches between the participating countries. And it negatively affects the quality of the Currie Cup.
2 Feb 2006, 16:41 pm
Adoons,
How about letting the Spears first take part in the Curry Cup before speculating where they will end on the log.
2 Feb 2006, 16:42 pm
adoons, how can you say they “never will be” good enough? It would have been easy to say the same thing about the Bulls or the Cats a couple of years ago. Or the Sharks right now.
2 Feb 2006, 16:45 pm
Trust us Saffas to take something simple and make such a grand ‘balls-up’…. How can the other provinces stop the Spears anyway? Surelly contracts were signed or something?!!
Pierre
I have nothing against the relegation per se. The problem I have is that the Spears are not ready yet and this is from their own people. If they need three years give them 3 because next year they will be connon fodder. The Force might be new but surelly they will be more competitive than the Spears. Sorry Kandas but I had to say it… Anyway, I might have to support them next year!
2 Feb 2006, 16:47 pm
The unions have a point albeit….they are also full of ****.
The SEC pushed the developement/transformation envelope all the way and gained much needed government support by doing it.
The big unions are well within their rights to question this, I don’t remember any of the Big 5 arse kissing the Stofiles by telling them they have the biggest black player base or they are the be all and end all of black player developement in SA.
McKeever is well out of order to turn around and state that they other unions have been poaching players for years when this it is exactly this ticket that the SEC got a franchise in the first place.The big 5 do recruit from the SEC region and will continue to do so….and talented rugby players will continue to leave.
But
The SEC made some pretty big promises withregards to using and developing homegrown talent and they need to deliver on their word.
Just like the unions signed a contract and need to deliver on theirs.
2 Feb 2006, 16:47 pm
Grrr, I actually agree that the Spears won’t be ready by next year. But will they be able to retain their sponsorship and continue to create interest in the brand if they have to sit on the sidelines for three years?
2 Feb 2006, 16:51 pm
Pierre
No, but why did the ‘Rugby Brains’ not see this. It’s to late now, they should have waited a few years playing CC but it’s a done deal. Now they will have to go play. Ready or not…
2 Feb 2006, 16:52 pm
i will say it again.
it is pretty rich for whoever it was to say they have to ‘prove’ themselves in the CC first.
**** the only two teams that ‘proved’ themselves where the cheetahs and the bulls.
WP got beaten by a lowly boland
both natal and lions were lucky against griquas
hell even the leopards gave the lions a good run.
and i think it was border that gave the cheetahs a scare early in the season?
you guys have not even proven YOURSELVES in the CC and yet you demand they do????
get off your high horses and face the music you bunch of hypocrites.
2 Feb 2006, 16:55 pm
These kinds of things annoy me.
Now last year they agreed at the presidents council.
And SEC went out and contracted youngsters, set up an office, hired staff and organised games.
They got ready fro S14 and played warm-up matches and all that.
The question is not whether they should or should not be in S14. Time will decide whether they deserve to be there or not. We can’t all make comments from lofty peaks about what may or may not happen (i.e. won’t reach Vodacom semi-final after the Boland crushed WP last week) – who would have thought Freestate had a snowball’s chance in hell of beating the WP and then the Bulls in a fortnight!
The question is whether the Big Five should be allowed to play with people’s minds like this. Should they be allowed to say yay,wait and watch a whole new team built, sponsors investing cash, people given jobs, a whole region subjected to an intensive marketing campaign.
And then dropped after all the work that’s already been done.
No, all the work is already done and the franchise set up.
The Big Boys made their bed last year and now they must sleep in it.
This kind of dishonesty should never ever be allowed!!!
2 Feb 2006, 16:59 pm
and guess who’s f-up this is yet again?
2 Feb 2006, 17:12 pm
Ollie,
What happened when they played the Cheetahs , Cats and Stormers?
They lost!!!
That is enough prove that they wont make it.
2 Feb 2006, 17:15 pm
Tony,
Cut the commercials and prove yourselves in the CC first. By doing well in the CC over the next 3 years, you will silence your critics and then you can play S14 deservedly. I see nothing wrong in buying or borrowing players if they are not being used by their provinces.
2 Feb 2006, 17:15 pm
In actual fact I dont care if the Spears play in S14 or not?
Atleast we will know who will be the wooden spooners 2 years in advance!
Olie and Pierre,
I hope that is a fair enough statement.
2 Feb 2006, 17:17 pm
SANZAR should have stepped in long before this was decided and stipulated that the Spears should at least be semi-finalists in the Currie Cup before comtemplating stepping up into the brutal S14!
2 Feb 2006, 17:18 pm
The whole notion of the spears was always a romantic one that had no chance of standing up to real scrutiny. the biggest problem is government meddling and insistance (oh and Keo did his fair share to punt the idea). the government is happy with mediocrity, so long as it serves their agenda. how else can you explain the woes of our futball? from best in Africa to laughing stock in 10 years yet no govermnment meddling?
2 Feb 2006, 17:24 pm
pissant – one swallow does not make a summer. just like one cloud does not make a hurricane. your examples are laughable and miss the point entirely.
I cant see how SA rugby could be served by letting these guys play in the s14 next year. its as meaningful as playing japan at the world cup.
indeed the long term picture would support the development of this franchise, but it cant happen overnight. it needs to be done properly with the full support of SARU. this is not happening.
2 Feb 2006, 17:28 pm
Adoons,
Wow, imagine that, after just a few weeks together for the first time. Playing against teams that have been playing together for ages.
They have a whole season of CC to start getting together as ateam. And even then they might still do badly at the end of the day come end results of the CC.
And you know what, they might even get a hiding in the Super 14 in 2007 & 2008! Wow, imagine that, a SA team at the bottom of the log for the Super 14. Ah, hang on didn’t we have 3 down there last year.
The big picture at the end of the day is that for 2 years we will have 1 of our ‘big’ teams out of the Super 14 and not the same team twice. After that it’s the best 4 play, full stop.
I beg you not to forget that for 2 years we will have 3 of the “big” boys playing. If they get their A’s into gear then we will only have 1 at the bottom of the log (by your logic that the Spears will get hammered every way from Sunday).
2 Feb 2006, 17:33 pm
“:)”
2 Feb 2006, 17:36 pm
I think they should go with their first plan to incorporate the Spears and the Bulls. Now THAT was cleaver…
2 Feb 2006, 17:54 pm
Ollie,
Are you from PE?
2 Feb 2006, 17:58 pm
Nope
2 Feb 2006, 17:59 pm
grrr jou grapgat.
look one thing that ollie said that does make sense, is that for only two years the spears are gauranteed a spot. that’s not the end of the world, don’t matter which side of the fence you are on. after that it is the same rules for everyone and the bottom team gets relegated. so the spears should get a shot every other year, if they are as bad as the majority suspect they will be. so ja, not the end of the world if you ask me.
2 Feb 2006, 18:00 pm
Ollie are you a spur person?
2 Feb 2006, 18:01 pm
do you have a taste for life?
2 Feb 2006, 18:06 pm
JUSM,
Nope, I am older than him and therefore lay claim that I am the original
2 Feb 2006, 18:06 pm
2 Feb 2006, 18:07 pm
Oh, and far more stream lined
2 Feb 2006, 18:08 pm
Agh man SA rugby would have a better hit ratio if they pulled straws out of a hat regarding which team to relegate.
Honestly the more we read into what happens in Rugby managment in this country the more you should appreciate what JW and the BOKS have done for us in two years.
2 Feb 2006, 18:11 pm
There must be a more gentlemanly way to resolve these little contretemps than squalid public arguments?
At school we settled such shananigans behind the Fives courts. Great game by the way if you ever get a chance. Out of sight. Over quickly. No recriminations and a firm handshake to end it all. By Jingo those were grand days.
Alternatively, I would happily host all disgruntled parties for a spot of tiffin (Earl Grey naturally) at my club. Entire countries and political boundaries across whole continents have been agreed in a single sitting.
A bit of rugby bickering could be settled in minutes and we could all get on with enjoying the game.
2 Feb 2006, 18:15 pm
clowns – all of them.
party, brewery, music, guest list: still can’t deliver.
Everyone knew when this deal was ‘brokered’ (I use the word loosely) that it was going to end in tears.
Alea Jacta Est
2 Feb 2006, 18:41 pm
The spears did not do very well in their warm up games, but look at their opposition!!! They were playing against teams that were studded with bokke! They had no names that i even recognized!
I support the spears coz im from PE. One good thing is that next yr PE is gonna get some good games! I will finally be able to watch some super14 live! We will get whipped, but it will be fun
2 Feb 2006, 19:07 pm
StMichel – I’m a bit disturbed thinking about what it is you did behind the fives courts with the other boys. Do you really think this is the forum to be discussing your sordities?
2 Feb 2006, 19:09 pm
mohawkius – if there are another 250,00 people like you in PE then the spears will do just fine.
2 Feb 2006, 19:29 pm
munki,
sorry bud, my suggestions laughable???
please explain to me why it is so inconceivable for a team two be given a free 2 year block to prove themselves, where a team like the bulls have been given, what 8? and only manage to apply themselves last year?????
they have by far the worst record in the SANZAR comp than any other team – but the idea of the Spears given the same ‘priveledge’ is suddenly a joke??????
like i said earlier – level the playing fields and these doomsayers will be shown up for the hypocrites they are.
in your own words, one swallow does not make a summer, so how come the bulls are suddenly the saviours of SA rugby because they reached a semi last year?????
ffs, the spears team has been together for 2 months!!!
today or yesterday the blues absolutely hammered the force with a 40 plus score! not even the cats could put that up against the spears and if marius jonker was a decent ref there would have been no way the stormers would have put 20 past them – they were scoreless for the first 30 minutes of the game – a team full of ‘SPRINGBOKS’ against a team of nobody’s??????
re-visit some facts buddy – your comment is laughable.
2 Feb 2006, 19:32 pm
my comment RE the CC statement made by one of these clowns just illustrates the fact that these plonkers have no pride left and SA rugby – if not re-vamped soon is going for a ball of **** before WC 2011
2 Feb 2006, 19:54 pm
anyhow,
forget the spears – why do you all think the ‘big 5′ are suddenly going against this if they all agreed in principle before????
the AGM is coming up isnt it?
like prinsloo said, the only body that can veto or change this is the presidents council right…
so the big 5 or at least one or two of them has come out publicly saying they do not support brian van rooyen right?
so if the presidents council suddenly takes an about turn who do you think they will ‘bargain’ with for votes, to veto these votes in exchange for support come the election for president of SARU?
no guesses on where this is leading is there now.
it is all political bullshit at the end of the day and we, as supporters are the only ones that suffers at the end of the day.
3 Feb 2006, 00:45 am
i bet eddie jones still feels the egg on his face for calling the boks dinosaurs.
3 Feb 2006, 07:21 am
PA
WP B side got beaten by Boland.
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