Cash-strapped Lions tighten belts
18 Dec 2011
The Golden Lions Rugby Union insists it will be able to pay its players despite having ‘financial difficulties’.
GLRU deputy president Altmann Allers told the Sunday Times that the union is in ‘the process of huge restructuring’ and that ‘people have been retrenched’, but dismissed reports that player salaries would not be paid this month.
‘I wonder if the rumours will go away when the players get paid this week?’ Allers countered. ‘It is true that we are going through some financial difficulties but the players’ salaries will not be affected. I don’t know if it is a misunderstanding or if someone misinterpreted the situation, but we are going to meet our obligations in 2012 and beyond. We are in financial difficulty but that is exactly why we are cutting back.
‘There are a number of players whose contracts we didn’t renew,’ he added, careful not to go into specifics. ‘We are in negotiations to terminate [the contracts of] 13 others.’
Allers estimates the union will have 40 to 45 senior contracted players in 2012, 30 fewer than last season.
919 Comments
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22 Dec 2011, 16:24 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-849:
agreed, most people who visited had a good rugby experience so a job well done for a small country
22 Dec 2011, 16:34 pm
@NZINCHINA-851:
yes absolutely, but this is excluding the controversies surrounding thr refereeing of course, just to be clear. i am sorry to say it but that wont go away and will always be remembered.
22 Dec 2011, 16:38 pm
@NZINCHINA-851:
which is unfortunate because i trully believe nz could have won this wc either way.
and what better way to win a wc than to win it very, very fairly or even better yet to win it even with decisions going against you.
in that regard i guess the english can cherish their win as there were a few calls that went against them imo, considering they pretty much had a dominant pack.
22 Dec 2011, 16:41 pm
c’est la vie, i suppose… c’est la vie…
22 Dec 2011, 17:00 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-853:
yip pretty much the same as 95″ I suppose when you played France or when Barsney took us out of the tournament in 07, s hit happens but what I find amusing though is that in 2007′ we beat you twice once in Durban but there is absolutley no way the Ab’s would have beaten SA in WC 07′ yet in 2011 the Bokke would have beaten the Ab’s and gone on to win the final thats after losing to Australia twice already this year, am I missing something?
22 Dec 2011, 17:23 pm
@NZINCHINA-855:
how were the french cheated in 95?
who said the ab’s wouldn’t have beaten the boks in wc 07?
who said we wouldv’e beaten you or gone on to win the final in wc 11?
now you’re just assuming things and doing that reflexive one-eye’d kiwi thing, friend.
we played what was in front of us in 07 (whether those teams got there fairly or not is immaterial) and won it very, very fairly and squarely. granted it would have been better to win it against quality opposition but it was won fairly all the same.
we brought a helluva game and by rights should have (because we did) win that game in 11 and thats all that counts in one off knockouts (any earlier games won or lost counts for nought).
the french brought a helluva game and by rights should have (honestly, what do you thing) won that game (tell me they didn’t?)
again, thats all that counts in one off knockout games (any and all earlier games won or lost counts for nought).
are you missing something..?…
22 Dec 2011, 17:25 pm
as i said earlier… c’est la vie… c’est la vie…
22 Dec 2011, 17:26 pm
anyway i have to go but will log on later, feel free to respond as you see fit.
cheers
22 Dec 2011, 17:35 pm
it’s a well known fact that the french crossed the try-line in the monsoon like rains in 1995 but due to the fact that the irb wanted to appease nelson mandela there was just noways that any ref would have given that try to the french.
22 Dec 2011, 17:41 pm
@mvk-859: Oh, but this isn’t American football, crossing the line does not imply a try was scored.
22 Dec 2011, 17:46 pm
@Sasori-860: no,but it was as clear as daylight that french momentum took them over the tryline.
22 Dec 2011, 17:50 pm
@mvk-861: Was it clear that the try was scored?
22 Dec 2011, 17:56 pm
@Sasori-862: when the french players enthusiastically pointed out to the ref that the try was scored he mysteriously decided to look the other way…..i guess he also could have been the recipient of a gold watch and couple of leather jackets from louis luyt after the wc final. : D
22 Dec 2011, 18:02 pm
@mvk-863: Ah, so that’s a no then….first rule of being a ref; don’t believe anything a player tells you..Especially if your reffing a soccer game
22 Dec 2011, 18:02 pm
Whateverrrrr
22 Dec 2011, 18:10 pm
Sup Dawn, Happy Holidays to you young miss
22 Dec 2011, 18:11 pm
@Dawn-865: howdy old cow.
22 Dec 2011, 18:14 pm
No holidays for me, but will make what time off I have happy!
22 Dec 2011, 18:17 pm
@Dawn-868: Bummer. I’m only getting a few days off over xmas and new years, then taking a 2 week break in Jan
; man I cant wait…
22 Dec 2011, 18:17 pm
Young miss? Old cow?
Make up your minds.
Oops mvk has no mind.
22 Dec 2011, 18:17 pm
@Dawn-868: how can you have holidays when cape town is overrun by tourists and scruffy-looking gautengers at this time of the year?
good decision to leave it for the quiter months ahead.
22 Dec 2011, 18:23 pm
The S.A. latest on the TERRY SCANDAL and I sincerely hope he sings the perish song :
England captain in ‘battle of his life’
{{ London -England football captain John Terry faces the “battle of his life” after prosecutors said he would face criminal charges over claims he racially abused QPR defender Anton Ferdinand, Britain’s press said on Thursday.
The announcement, which came a day after Liverpool striker Luis Suarez received an eight match ban for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra, proves, that British football is taking a lead in dealing with racism, Fleet Street said.
“In the age of the celebrity footballer, few players have commanded more coverage… than John Terry,” said the Independent’s Sam Wallace.
“But the charges laid against him yesterday by the Crown Prosecution Service represent the battle of his life.”
Terry was ordered to appear in a magistrates court on February 01, 2012 over the incident during a Premier League match in October.
On Wednesday Alison Saunders, Chief Crown Prosecutor for London, said: “I have today advised the Metropolitan Police Service that John Terry should be prosecuted for a racially aggravated public order offence following comments allegedly made during a Premier League football match between Queens Park Rangers and Chelsea on 23 October 2011.”
She added: “After careful consideration of all the evidence, I am satisfied there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest to prosecute this case.”
Terry, reacting to the charge, said in a statement: “I am disappointed with the decision to charge me and hope to be given the chance to clear my name as quickly as possible.
“I have never aimed a racist remark at anyone and count people from all races and creeds among my friends,” added the 31-year-old, who has spent his entire professional career with London club Chelsea.
“I will fight tooth and nail to prove my innocence. I have campaigned against racism and believe there is no place for it in society.”
If found guilty, the maximum punishment the courts can impose for this offence is a fine of £2 500.
But the implications of a guilty verdict would be far more severe for Terry who, in that event, would almost certainly lose the England captaincy and could even spell the end of his international career.
All British newspapers were in agreement that Terry would never captain England again if found guilty, and Wallace also suggested it would dash his long-term dream of managing Chelsea, his domestic club.
Popular tabloid The Sun said the ruling was a “nightmare” for the Football Association (FA), particularly if the matter is adjourned when Terry appears in court on February 01, four weeks before England play the Netherlands in a friendly match.
In that event, the paper’s chief football writer Shaun Custis called on Terry to “do the decent thing and step aside”.
“There need be no presumption of guilt,” he added. “It would simply be best for the national game.”
The Times editorial said the action taken over Terry and Suarez had sent “a very clear message that racism where proven will not be tolerated in British football”.
“Certainly compared with the appalling treatment that black players often receive in Italy and some of the Eastern European countries, England is a civilised place to play,” it added.
The Guardian also ran a positive editorial, arguing that the attention given to the two cases showed how far the game had come but that Liverpool and Chelsea should have been more cautious in lending their blanket support to the two players.
“Absolutely no one believes that racism is a more common scourge in English football today than it was a generation ago,” it said.
“English football has worked hard to combat racism. But all that good work can be undone by one shortsighted act,” it added.
“Neither Liverpool nor Chelsea are therefore right to say that they will support their players, whatever the outcome.”
The two incidents also highlighted the “complex and contradictory history of racism in English football”, Times chief sports writer Simon Barnes argued.
Throughout their history, English football grounds have been “breeding grounds for pestilence” and “places where racial hatred could be hymned to the skies without restraint or rebuke,” he wrote.
However, at the same time the game helped lower racial tensions across the whole country and created taboos which were later adopted in all walks of society, he added.
“Racial insults were once routine: now they’re so shocking that the England captain must go to court.” – Sapa-AFP }}
NOTE WELL the very last sentence and it is worth restating here for all you LOUTS:
“RACIAL INSULTS WERE ONCE ROUTINE: NOW THEY’RE SO SHOCKING THAT THE ENGLAND CAPTAIN MUST GO TO COURT.”
Much more and worse is to be found on Sky sports’ news.
22 Dec 2011, 18:28 pm
Ugh, its ET, flee everyone
22 Dec 2011, 18:28 pm
So ET, does that stand for Eugene Terblanche, he a hero of yours?
22 Dec 2011, 18:33 pm
@Sasori-862:
All the experts I have read, using present technology, unequivocally say that the superb loose forward Abdelatif Benazzi scoored a perfect try as the ball was over the try-line and not in front of it.
When I saw it live at the time I said to my friend from Holland that “the try was good but this is the Springboks playing in JHB., on home soil, in their first WC and they need to be in the Final, so expect anything and everything to negate that French semi-final winning try.”
Not knowing rugby he looked at me astounded.
22 Dec 2011, 18:37 pm
@Sasori-874:
If your interpretation explains my supreme interest in NON-RACIALISM and the sad genuine lack of it particularly in S.A. Rugby, then who am I to deny you your misguided pleasure so late in this year?
Enjoy your stupid rant.
22 Dec 2011, 18:40 pm
@ET.-875: great post.saso is in denial and would never admit to the fact that that game in durban was the most rigged ever.
22 Dec 2011, 18:42 pm
Oops
22 Dec 2011, 18:49 pm
@mvk-859:
Sush a reseest. You are saying that Mandela is a stoopid.
22 Dec 2011, 19:02 pm
@ET.-875:
“When I saw it live at the time I said to my friend from Holland that “the try was good but this is the Springboks playing in JHB”
And I thought that game was played in Durban. I hope your Dutch friend pointed this out to you, at the time.
22 Dec 2011, 19:04 pm
@mvk-877:
That whole first S.A. WC was rigged from start to end for reasons of money and for reasons of rugby status for the so-called “top-tier” rugby nations.
22 Dec 2011, 19:07 pm
Foresee a brawl I do.
22 Dec 2011, 19:12 pm
@David-880:
Are you such a dumb Englishman not to realise that JHB refers to the ‘Boks playing the Final there days after? The semi was minutes from the refs’ final whistle.
I knew it and so too did my friend on whose tv I was watched that semi and the final days later.
Desperado try again sometime other. Your time is short.
22 Dec 2011, 19:13 pm
That “oops” should also be for the realization that not all make the REAL inner circle. Some are just usable branches.
22 Dec 2011, 19:14 pm
@ET.-881: the window-dressing of chester williams before and during that wc still leaves a bitter taste as well.
22 Dec 2011, 19:16 pm
Usable branches?
22 Dec 2011, 19:22 pm
@ET.-883:
Good try, but your post doesn’t read that way. However, I’ll forgive you, as I assume english isn’t your mother tongue.
22 Dec 2011, 19:23 pm
@Dawn-886: i think a street corner is calling your name….make yourself useful.
22 Dec 2011, 19:25 pm
Too cryptic for the challenged?
22 Dec 2011, 19:26 pm
@mvk-885:
There will come a time in the future when many beans will out as Gibbs has hinted already.
22 Dec 2011, 19:27 pm
@David-887: claiming language superiority now?….what a fekkin english plonker!
22 Dec 2011, 19:32 pm
@mvk-885:
Chester was the finest wing in the country, perceived window dressing or not.
@mvk-891:
ET deserves it, it’s his favourite ploy.
22 Dec 2011, 19:36 pm
it’s a well known fact that chester was never welcomed in that team. nearly 90 percent of players,mostly from the north,detested his presence in that team.the afrikaner north preferred pieter hendriks.despite this and their attitude towards blacks playing rugby at the highest level they decided to make chester the poster boy of that wc and the face of south african rugby to serve their own devious purposes.the aim was to fool the world and the rugby playing world that south african rugby had turned the corner regarding black participation in rugby.fast-forward to 2011 and 2 black players started most games…..they have fooled nobody!!
22 Dec 2011, 19:36 pm
@David-887:
Still being just dumb?
Have you noted that those are my quoted words from 1995 in a conversation between two people. in his lounge and he and I knew that that semi, and who won , determined who played in JHB. days later?
In elk geval gaan K A K.
Wat weet, eintlik, ‘n persoon wat nie eens ‘n ware Suid Afrikaner is nie?
Terry het seker meer lus vir jou gesprek.
Ek het meer dringende dinge om te doen. Hoop jy verstaan.
Totsiens!
22 Dec 2011, 19:43 pm
@ET.-894: oh no ,not another hg?what’s up with these foreigners trying to be more saffa than the the locals themselves.terry sounds just about right as the people he would hang out with.
22 Dec 2011, 19:43 pm
One gone one to go.
22 Dec 2011, 19:45 pm
@Dawn-896: not on that street corner yet?
22 Dec 2011, 19:49 pm
@ET.-894:
No, not dumb, just taking your comment as written.
@mvk-893:
I agree that there is, and was, a racist element to Springbok team dynamics. I don’t believe, however, that it was an attempt to deny players of colour access to Bok rugby, but a belief that they don’t understand the team culture.
It’s something I’ve fought against here, for years.
22 Dec 2011, 19:54 pm
850@Stormersboy…all they had 2 do was drive from the airport, they were here last xmas and i give perfect directions…
after the freeway follow straight road for 8km then then turn right into dirt road district no blahblah.
Havent done a veg stew lol, but i bet u imagine a group of veggies chucked into a pot and left to boil…yuk, you would make a bad vegetarian chef.
22 Dec 2011, 20:00 pm
@Treehugger-899:
That makes perfect sense to another woman, I suspect. Short and succinct. The problem might be which right, mens or womens?
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