Rebels eye global stars
4 Jan 2010
Melbourne’s new franchise will be allowed to recruit up to 10 foreign players for the 2011 Super 15.
The Australian Rugby Union hopes this will help the Rebels to be competitive in their debut season while ensuring that the other four Aussie sides aren’t weakened by player poaching. The concession will gradually be rolled back so that by 2015 Melbourne will only be allowed to have two overseas-based players in their squad, as ARU policy currently dictates.
‘It is important to ensure Melbourne can recruit a team that is competitive from day one,’ ARU chief John O’Neill said. ‘The concessions we have put in place provide Melbourne with every opportunity for immediate success, while also ensuring there is ongoing sustainability moving forward.
‘There are exciting times ahead. The addition of another Australian team and a move to a conference-style format will increase significantly the number and appeal of Super Rugby matches played within Australia.
‘We will have 20 all-Australian local derbies each season, as opposed to the current six.
‘We will be playing in five cities rather than four and we will have a side in Melbourne that could be showcasing world-class talent from overseas as well as home-grown stars.’
47 Comments
4 Jan 2010, 08:43 am
mercenary dragons
4 Jan 2010, 08:46 am
Oh Hell…..another raid on Sa resources on its way….
4 Jan 2010, 08:48 am
Best we lift the ban on choosing saffas plying there trade overseas….
4 Jan 2010, 09:19 am
Good bye young white stars. Probably Ebersholm, Grant, SPretorius to name a few. Take it cos you are never gonna get a chance in RSA with its racist aparthied style selection policies. The Robin “never done shite” Petersen versus Kevin Petersen. Just look at how many Saffas are in overseas squads in rugby and cricket. Take a moral standpoint and leave.
Its a shame but we need to face facts that our sport is poorly managed at the political level(ASA for one) due to racial selections and not merit based. We have traded one system of Affirmative Action(Apartheid) for another race based selection policy.
I think the Boks are the team of the decade because the AB’s would not deliver with the same results with the same restrictions and race based selections. Hell you would be kak if you could not select Polynesians…
4 Jan 2010, 10:14 am
it’ll be interesting to see how this team develops. personally I think they’ll target more kiwis than ‘boks because there is a large kiwi support base in melbourne.
4 Jan 2010, 11:18 am
Rassie, hold onto the Stormers with your life
Frans, I suggest you do the same
****, don’t worry, you can always raid the Cheetahs again
4 Jan 2010, 11:21 am
Rassie isn’t the coach ….. Alaister is ..
4 Jan 2010, 11:23 am
@Blogger: Rassie is the senior professional coach, Allister’s just the head coach. Rassie will handle the contracts
4 Jan 2010, 11:24 am
hope so! …cause i don’t rate Allister …
4 Jan 2010, 11:27 am
@Blogger: Rassie is Allister’s boss, he can do everything from taking over a practice session, changing team selection and hiring and firing players. But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that
4 Jan 2010, 11:39 am
@SpringbokSarah: if it does it’ll just create a bad atmosphere
think they got it right in the currie cup and will continue fwd from there
for some reason am quite optimistic to see what stormers and lions dish out this year
somehow dont think cheetahs have the players to do perform consistently over the long haul
wot u say?
4 Jan 2010, 11:53 am
@Papoose: That’s exactly why I said let’s hope it doesn’t come to that
The Cheetahs had some very good players, Willem is awesome and Duane had a fantastic season with WP, sadly (I guess it depends where you’re standing
)they’re both gone.
They still do however have there amazing flankers (although I did hear rumours Heinrich would be joining the Sharks) and their kicking machine… a couple of young super stars, they might be in for a good year
4 Jan 2010, 12:57 pm
@KevinRack:
“I think the Boks are the team of the decade because the AB’s would not deliver with the same results with the same restrictions and race based selections. Hell you would be kak if you could not select Polynesians…”
gees, you wouldnt let us bring our best moari players for so many years, does that make us the team of the last century? its people like you that remind us all of the old S.A …
bravo, standing ovation here for that comment…
4 Jan 2010, 14:02 pm
i heard they are after johnny wilkinson ?
4 Jan 2010, 14:13 pm
@poppa69: The unfortunate reality that stupdity does not suffer silently is shown on Kevin’s rack
4 Jan 2010, 14:29 pm
@KevinRack:
Ahhh get a life bud.
I suppose all the diabolical SA results in last 10-15 yrs is due to black/quota selections as u put it..pffttt
Lets look at it from a factual point of view for a sec since the b.s encompassing your non existanr cerebral sphere is impeeding ur judgement
Ex: Boks atrocious results
-first loss to Wales in 100 yrs in 1999 millenium Stadium-NOT A SINGLE BLACK PLAYER WAS ON THE PARK
-First loss to Scotland in 2002-ONLY ONE BLACK PLAYER ON THE PARK-PAULSE
-Worst loss in Bok history vs England 53-3 at Twickenham 2002-NO BLACK PLAYER IN XV,2 on bench-Jordaan/Paulse
-Diabolical Straeuli tenure had the least amount of black caps of the last 8-10 yrs
- 49-0 loss to OZ in 2006-Paulse only POC on the park.
Woeful Cheetahs/Lions in S12-S14 sides in the last 5-8 yrs havent fielded more than 3 POC at once and less than 6 in squads of 30.
Thats all fact.
decify that however u wish.
Kevin Petersen,Trott,Rathbone,Rawlinson etc werent forced by any racist policies etc etc they seeked opportunities elsewhere.Problem is most of them didnt cover themselves in glory with their lack of class once achieving success on other continents.Now look at Rathbone-a broken man.Sad really
Present your opinion/stances with a little bit of fact and less petulance and maybe your comments might be taken seriously.
4 Jan 2010, 14:42 pm
well hes right in that sa does have racial selections. isnt that why pdv was picked as bok coach to speed up the black numbers ?
we are meant to have a certain number of players of colour on the park. i remember there has been a few times jake white had to make changes to put more blacks in the side
but i dont believe its affected the outcome. the players of colour we have like habana kirchner steenkamp januarie are all very talented and would really been good enough to play anywhere in the world
4 Jan 2010, 14:44 pm
@mshiniwami: Nicely said!
4 Jan 2010, 14:46 pm
but there have been alot of players who have been boks who i think were only there cause they r black chilli boy for a start.
shimange lawrence sephaka not good enough in my view
4 Jan 2010, 14:49 pm
What about all the non-black players since 92 who was incompetent!
4 Jan 2010, 14:50 pm
@klippies101: Well there are still players getting picked today who I think are only there cause they are blue-eyed boy Afrikaners, Potgieter and Hougaard for a start.
4 Jan 2010, 14:55 pm
to be honest ratel i havent really seen enough of Potgieter or hougaard to agree or disagree with you. but look at hilton lobberts i think he only played for the boks cause he is black
i think there is more blacks picked cause they r black than afrikaaners
4 Jan 2010, 15:01 pm
@klippies101: My point is players are picked all the time who ‘shouldn’t’ in our opinion be there. If its a black player everybody says quota, if it is a white player everybody says its because one day he will be brilliant. I mean really Hougaard played wing for the Bulls all season, then had shockers for the dirt-trackers and then earns a place in the test 22? You have to admit that there are many more deserving loosies in the country than Pottie. If these same players were black it would be called racist/quota selections. All players should be picked on form and merit, this should include white players.
4 Jan 2010, 15:03 pm
@SpringbokSarah: which kicking machine cos JLP has gone to the bulls
Ratel is staying put with cheetahs by the way
4 Jan 2010, 15:15 pm
your right Ratel and often players who should be there arnt like brent russel or hieni addams the bulls scrumhalf. or even kabamba floors i thought he was great a while back maybe just a bit small compared to schalk or spies. even solly was great i think he just had off field issues.
but i agree with kevin rack that in sa often black players are picked just for window dressing and its not fair to the whites who miss out due to rascim.
and it should never be about skin colour. i dont support habana cause he is black or bakkies cause he is white but cause they are south african .
4 Jan 2010, 15:18 pm
and long live the green and gold
5 Jan 2010, 00:11 am
aren’t the Rebels and American Football team?
5 Jan 2010, 05:39 am
As an ardent Bok supporter I could not care less if the whole team was indigineous African. All I care is about winning, especially against the Kiwis. Hell you could put a women in the team as long as it is merit based and not politics or race.
Afirmative Action is Apartheid!
We fought to end one form of oppression only to be given another. I take a moral stand against race based selections now and as before! As for politics, its causes havoc on the teams preparations.
Luke(whom I rate as 1 of our best) got in as an hounary black player. WTF! Players read papers, they know what is going on, it affects mental preparation.
As for Kiwis, why do some of you claim that you need whites in your team to acheive a balance between brain and brawn. LOL the pot calling the kettle black!
Imagine a New Zealand side hampered by these crazy political doings…
5 Jan 2010, 07:06 am
What you have now is much better mate, I think the whole world was relieved when the “oppression” finished we all got a bit sick of watching Nazis with their police dogs biting black people on the 6 o’clock news.
5 Jan 2010, 07:56 am
@29
But yet a million people were killed in Rwanda during the genocide and the world just looked on
Mugabe evicts farmers and the world looks on
5 Jan 2010, 08:08 am
Sure can’t disagree with you there but that doesn’t change the facts re 29# even with a corrupt inept ANC government surely they have to be better than the SA branch of the Nazi party that once ruled SA?
5 Jan 2010, 08:10 am
Please remind me again why i visit this site?
5 Jan 2010, 08:14 am
@Staal:
Is that a trick question?
5 Jan 2010, 08:31 am
@NZINCHINA: Really? Why don’t you come stay here in SA for a while…? And don’t give me the “I’ve been in SA for a month or two” bulls***. You and your family move to SA, and stay here for a few years.
Easy to sit overseas and speak of something you know nothing of
@Staal: I asked myself the same question…
5 Jan 2010, 08:46 am
@Bloudraad:
Ok it was only 6 weeks, great country I didn’t say I knew everything about SA I was commenting on what I used to see on TV all the time or did that not happen? You are right I know nothing about ANC internal policy and it is probably a fark up like the rest of Africa is but without wanting to repeat myself surely it has to be better than the previous white government who murdered and tortured thousands of innocent people?
5 Jan 2010, 08:49 am
Up pops the racism discussion! Well as John Smit says in his book “only an idiot would say SA is not better off now than 20 years ago”. Seems there are a few idiots around. Yes we have problems, our government seems to slide towards its own apartheid every year. But we have to keep the faith, things are improving. Affirmative action is necessary to correct the injustices of the past, however it should be previously disadvantaged based and not racially. A black kid growing up in a mansion and attending the best private schools SHOULD NOT be getting preferential treatment. Affirmative action is there to uplift the poor and balance out the classes, not make the rich richer.
5 Jan 2010, 08:49 am
not sure if The Saint blogs here on Keo but wanted to congratulate him on his Super 14 team dissections on the RT site….really well written and thoroughly enjoyed by me.
5 Jan 2010, 08:50 am
@Ratel Brussow (MSIUR): hi ratel….
5 Jan 2010, 09:16 am
@grant10: Hi G10, have you read JS book yet?
5 Jan 2010, 09:25 am
@Ratel Brussow (MSIUR): just went to pick up my tickets for cricket tomorrow at Computicket…sorry delay in reply.
No, not as yet Ratel….i did go see Invictus and also read the book , really good.
I am sure i will read it soon though.
5 Jan 2010, 09:27 am
@grant10: Better than JW book, in my opinion. Gives more insight into tactics. Still not exactly Shakespeare, but easy to read and enjoyable. Talks quite a bit about scrumming.
5 Jan 2010, 09:30 am
Peter Grant had an offer from the W. Forces last year, he opted to re sign with the Stormers and since De Waal was injured most of the season he got a lot of playing time.
It will be different this year due to the decree to accomodare Morgan Freeman or De Jongh at centre next to J. Fourie and the returning of De Wall, Grant may regret his decision to stay.
Ebersohn should go to Ozz, he is an under sized centre by SA standards (for a whity) and will find the going tough to depose Bosman at 12 or Jonker for that matter, the Aussies on the other hand will appreciate his immense skills at all aspects of the game, I am surprised they haven’t made him an offer yet?
5 Jan 2010, 09:33 am
@Ratel Brussow (MSIUR): cool….will make a plan….my birthday tomorrow so who knows….maybe the blonde will get it for me. Problem is she knows i am a Luke fan and heard me complaining to a mate about the criticism levelled at Luke so perhaps she thinks i am not inclined to want to read the book….which is not the case.
Best wishes to you and the Sharks for 2010 by the way.
5 Jan 2010, 09:33 am
@JL1:
Mujati’s family comandeered white farms and we looked on too
Or didn’t we?
5 Jan 2010, 09:34 am
those bloody Aussies will be hunting our talent for sure…
5 Jan 2010, 09:46 am
@grant10: 2010 is going to rock! Ya, I found the Luke Watson thing quite interesting. In 2003 JS actually phoned JW and told him that LW should be in the SA U21 side and in fact should be captain. JW said he had a better flank in SB. In my opinion LW should have still been in squad, things may have turned out differently. However the next year Putt stuffed the Sharks up badly, LW said some stupid things and the rest as they say is history.
5 Jan 2010, 22:45 pm
@NZINCHINA:
No it was more fun to watch than the bigamist Zuma waltzing around in ****** skins or our local xenophobic indingenous populace stabbing and burning their African cousins.
At least we all got a laugh out of it, what with the running and falling and “Maweh aich!”.
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.