Sarries can SA initiative
17 Nov 2011
Saracens will not host their European Cup match against Biarritz in Cape Town because of the conflict between the city council and WP Rugby.
Saracens announced the cancellation of their plans of taking the first European Cup fixture to the southern hemisphere on Thursday. This comes after negotiations between the Watford-based club, City of Cape Town and WP Rugby fell through this week.
The orginal plan was to play the match at Cape Town Stadium in Greenpoint, but as the host union, WP forced their hand and demanded that the match be played at Newlands. Saracens attempted to reason with the two parties but a failure to reach an agreement has seen the English Premiership champions cancel the initiative as they’ll now play the match in London.
‘The innovative Saracens were eager to host the first European Cup match ever played outside Europe, to stage a special, spectacular rugby event and to project brilliant images of Cape Town and European rugby around the world,’ said the club’s statement.
‘However, we have no wish to be a catalyst for conflict between the City of Cape Town and the Western Province Rugby Union. Saracens looks forward to playing a competitive match in Cape Town as soon as local circumstances allow.
‘Supporters who have bought tickets in South Africa will be fully refunded by Computicket, and Saracens will engage with UK-based supporters who have already booked air tickets and accommodation, and ensure they are appropriately compensated.’
301 Comments
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17 Nov 2011, 18:48 pm
Just Brilliant ****** from this wp dragons
17 Nov 2011, 18:50 pm
They shouldn’t cancel. Bring it to the Johannesburg. We will appreciate it
17 Nov 2011, 19:01 pm
One more reason to despise the Stormers more than the Gautengaleng Lions.
17 Nov 2011, 19:05 pm
Well it is nice to have another reason to make fun of WP, but truth is, I’m glad that this experimental European foray into South African territory has failed.
We don’t need the European competitions gaining any further marketshare at our expense. The fewer viewers they get, the less they can offer our players to move to Europe.
If SA spectators starts switching to Euro cup rugby more regularly, that will just strengthen their revenue streams, and weaken our bargaining position when it comes to retaining our own players.
You wanted to come, you thought you saw an opportunity, but at least in this instance, you didn’t conquer.
Now don’t try anything like this again soon, please.
17 Nov 2011, 19:20 pm
Hmmm… so it has nothing to do with the Sarries fans who demanded the game to be hosted in UK?
17 Nov 2011, 19:23 pm
Edward Griffiths is a plonker. He should know better than anybody that the home of rugby in Cape Town is Newlands. He had an office there for godsakes when he worked for SARU.
17 Nov 2011, 19:38 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-4: ‘The fewer viewers they get, the less they can offer our players to move to Europe.’
The clubs who can afford the best SA players are not reliant on viewers, they’re bankrolled by multi-millionaires and billionaires. It really makes no difference.
17 Nov 2011, 19:46 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-7:
You reckon.
Why do you think they were so keen to come and play the match in Cape Town?
If you ask me it is to expand their brand and grow their commercial and supporter base and not to benefit SA or Cape Town in any way directly.
17 Nov 2011, 19:56 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-8: The point I was making is that it isn’t crowds and viewers which finances the likes of Frans Steyn and Bakkies Botha moving to the NH, it’s the deep pockets of billionaires such as Jacky Lorenzetti and Mourad Boudjellal (Racing & Toulon) who have made their money in other industries.
17 Nov 2011, 20:00 pm
Mafia!
17 Nov 2011, 20:06 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-9:
It is fair, but hose billionaires still want to see returns on their investments and that is one of the main reasons why the club is trying to tap into the SA market.
17 Nov 2011, 20:07 pm
Well this was pretty predictable…
Johan Rupert don’t like being told what to do by nobody…!!!
17 Nov 2011, 20:09 pm
the narrow mindedness of the WP administrators is reflected by some of the bloggers here. Tac…I guess you hanker to those days when SA was excluded from international sport? I am a stormer……is he really? Griffiths seems to be doing a better job than any administrators in SA ( I exclude De Klerk and the Bulls). Actually Griffiths is not an ‘administrator’…he is a business man who understands the value of building a successful franchise. You guys continue to sit with your heads up your dark stars and live in hope. The rugby world has moved on.
17 Nov 2011, 20:12 pm
jeez what is it with Sa Rugby? Always a mission, always an issue, always a stuff up, always a joke……….oh for a professional set up run by a team singing from one songbook with the same objectives in mind.
yeah right!
doos’s!
17 Nov 2011, 20:16 pm
Sarries/Rupert are/is just playing hard ball…
They’ll make WP see the error of their ways…
The match will go ahead…
At Cape Town Stadium…
mark these words
17 Nov 2011, 20:16 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-11: There’s no real money in rugby rob, particularly not for men of that wealth. Hardly any of the AP clubs are turning over a profit, I suspect the same is true in France, clubs are merely playthings to these guys, a hobby.
17 Nov 2011, 20:37 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-4:
A bit far fetching, I can dispel your concerns
I tried to watch 4 Heineken games last weekend, I survived the Toulouse game mostly because of Gary Botha and only up to the 60′s minute, the Saracene game was a dreg, the 3 Irish games were so so and I gave up after 30 minutes
The real threat for SA Rugby ratings are the pathetic tokens inserted into the teams and help to diluted the intensity and interest.
17 Nov 2011, 20:44 pm
I am so proud of WP rugby at the moment.
I don’t even have words to express it.
17 Nov 2011, 20:50 pm
Tokens?
17 Nov 2011, 21:00 pm
This all seems very unproffesional.
17 Nov 2011, 21:05 pm
18
PissAnt:
Chin up bud…
All things in time. This too will pass….
17 Nov 2011, 21:09 pm
Gunther’s word embabroer or something.
17 Nov 2011, 21:20 pm
This reflects extremely poorly on the typical infighting, backstabbing, narrow minded SA rugby administrator. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.
But why do I get the feeling Saracens are almost relived to have pulled out?…they didn’t wait very long before they pulled the plug…
17 Nov 2011, 21:23 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-19: yes, like you get at a fair/carnival to ride a rollercoaster
17 Nov 2011, 21:25 pm
SA 241/4…. then 266 all out… WTF?!
Chokers.
17 Nov 2011, 21:27 pm
toby titus is prolly walking around Newlands thinking “ek is die hoof man, ballas van staal”
17 Nov 2011, 21:29 pm
or heavy betting/fixing?….
17 Nov 2011, 21:31 pm
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-25: those okes are NOT a team, i’ve never seen a team that caputulates as readily & as regularly as the proteas…i don’t even feel bad anymore because it’s waste of my emotions.
i watch the proteas like i watch bafana bafana, with room the size of soccer city for failure & disappointment!
17 Nov 2011, 21:34 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-28: haha you have summed up EXACTLY how I feel when I watch those 2 teams.
17 Nov 2011, 21:43 pm
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-29:
A bit of overnight rain – like we’re getting right now – and some overcast conditions and Dale Steyn will be ready to go.
But agree – the batting today was inexcusable. Didn’t watch much today. But this is test match cricket – the runs won’t come easily. The guys have got to get their heads down and graft. So once again, they will have to rely on the bowlers to get them out of a pickle.
17 Nov 2011, 22:07 pm
My first post on here guys so please be gentle with me…I like the idea of a Northern Hemisphere club playing in SA by the same token I hope SA may do the same and have one of the Super15 games up North. I went to the Sharks game at Twickenham last season cracking game (apart from Sharks losing of course) I had so many rugby loving friends who have never seen these games live or even on Sky TV, contact me afterwards to express further interest in SA rugby and start following SA teams,thats got to be good for the game.
17 Nov 2011, 22:09 pm
@I am a stormer(I am a stormer)-30:
Very strange tactics indeed- It started when the usual slow scoring Jacques Kallis scored at a rate of knots i have never seen before- and the far less talented Prince tried to play the same- and then as usual it fell to pieces..
Seems like Gary has spent too much time in the company of swashbuckling flair players like Sehwag abnd Donhi and is trying to get SA to play the same
17 Nov 2011, 22:19 pm
@sharkeybathman(sharkeybathman)-31: hi guppybathman.
don’t worry mate, the consensus among sharks fans here was that at least the sharks “won the 2nd half”
17 Nov 2011, 22:24 pm
@sharkeybathman(sharkeybathman)-31: your name isn’t David by any chance?
17 Nov 2011, 22:25 pm
@sharkeybathman(sharkeybathman)-31:
It is a pity that it had to be the dour Sharks team to introduce South African super rugby to Twickenham- a dynamic team like the Stormers for example would have ensured an even more positive response from the British fans
Welcome here anyway- this place’s bark is worse than it’s bite, here are a few lunatics but they are fairly harmless.
17 Nov 2011, 22:29 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-35: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! “Dour Sharks” so says the man whose team scored the lowest tries out the top 7 teams in the S15 this year, by quite some margin.
Lol, Sharks have far more of a following in the UK than the Stormers, it was an excellent choice to tap the greatest market share.
17 Nov 2011, 22:32 pm
I see a couple of Sharks jerseys around the UK every now and again, south to north.
Never seen another teams’ jersey once. Except at the Sharks/Crusaders game where some chop was confused and wore a Stormers jersey.
17 Nov 2011, 22:36 pm
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-36:
We play test (winning) rugby and barbarian rugby. That is why the throphy for winning the SA Conference is at newlands.
Not sure about the popularity of the sharks in the UK. The last time I was there I only saw one bloke with a Cheetah jersey at heathrow- no Sharks or Stormers supporters to my surprise, lol.
17 Nov 2011, 22:38 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-38: LOL! A “trophy for winning the conference”! What an esteemed prize that must be… when you take into account the next game’s result at home… seriously, is there even a trophy for “winning” the conference?
17 Nov 2011, 22:40 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-38: the 30,000 crowd (about 3/4s Saffa) confirmed just how popular the Sharks are over here.
17 Nov 2011, 22:42 pm
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-39:
That trophy is much harder to win then the currie cup- home and away against all the sa franchises and also matches against teams like the Saders, Reds etc.
Its a hard- core trophy for sure, i am very proud that we have it safely down there in the shadow of the mountain.
17 Nov 2011, 22:45 pm
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-40:
Seems as if they are more popular in London than in Durban where they struggle to draw crowds?
17 Nov 2011, 22:50 pm
woodenspoon.no mate names Lee…Robzim. There are a few Sharks fans about and I managed to convert more after the Twickenham visit. And I guess thats the point of a game or two (different teams of course) playing in different hemispheres to grow the brand. If you look at football teams in the UK they rarely play pre season games in the UK. The likes of ManU,Chelsea grow their brand in other markets and make millions off shirt sales and merchandise alone. How good would that be if rugby could do the same. It takes time but you gotta start somewhere.
17 Nov 2011, 22:53 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-41: you must be so proud. Next step is to win a real trophy.
17 Nov 2011, 22:54 pm
@sharkeybathman(sharkeybathman)-43: Cool, welcome to the forum. I know a Shark/Bath fan, now I know two.
17 Nov 2011, 23:00 pm
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-44:
We have a good momentum but now that our coaching staff will be leaving for the boks I am a bit worried about next year. And we must sort out our flyhalf problems (PG is a liability) like the sharks must sort out their centre and lock problems.
Anyway, i must go, we are two hours ahead of you, have a good night.
17 Nov 2011, 23:02 pm
Now I’ve got the hang of this posting lark and as a Bath fan also. I would like thank WP for Francois Louw. That boy is pulling up trees and is well on the way to becoming a cult figure at the Rec, and I don’t think he has even hit his stride yet…
17 Nov 2011, 23:03 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-46: Coetzee and Erasmus leaving WP for the Boks will be a blessing in disguise for WP… and a disaster for SA…
17 Nov 2011, 23:26 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-35: Where were you sitting at the game bud? There was a good turn-out of all southern hemisphere types including a lot of Ozzies! All I can relate to is seeing a good game of rugby at Twickers,maybe the genuine rugby supporters should appreciate watching games in different settings rather than being one-eyed “team” supporters
18 Nov 2011, 02:18 am
Now look who has egg on their face.
Titus should have at the very least been honest about his intentions instead of peddling a pathetic and baseless one-liner about Newlands being the “home of rugby”. Even if it is the home, it’s the home of SOUTH AFRICAN rugby. This is not a SOUTH AFRICAN game.
Even disregarding everything above it is more befitting to hold this game in Greenpoint on the basis that it is not a normal game, it is 2 foreign sides coming to play a unique one-off game in Cape Town. We have a brand spanking new international stadium crying out to be used but Province had to force their involvement and go and dig their toes in to try and drag everyone back to their precious fossil of a stadium to milk a few more $$$. It is nothing to do with them, they didn’t even broker the damn game!!
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