I was watching him on Boots n All last night. Please Wayne, never attempt the world of rugby commentating…pleeeeeezzz. He must have repeated the same sentence about ten times during the interview. Actually he was incoherent in most of the interview.

I’ve held my tongue throughout the Luke Watson debate, I have not said a word throughout the outrage surrounding the purported link between you and your HSM company and their links to the Kings, Luke Watson and other stake holders who will all benefit from the Kings’ participation in Super Rugby next season.

Well Mark, here goes mate:

In the article you boldly state that the Lions surely have “no right to a Super Rugby hand out in 2013” – fair point Mark, I agree with you 100%. In fact, I agree with you whole heartedly. No team should be given a hand out to play in Super Rugby, not the Bulls, not the Cheetahs, Stormers nor Lions. But yet somehow you have been advocating for the team who has received the worst hand out of all: The Kings.

 Hypocrisy, thy name is you.

You cite the Lions’ poor performance in Super Rugby as the basis for these claims, and there’s no doubt, even in the minds of the most ardent Lions supporters, that the Lions have underachieved in Super Rugby. There’s no getting away from that, and I’m not writing to be a Lions cheerleader either, so there’s no arguing there Mark.

The argument comes in here though. The player troubles at the Lions has been well documented, playing with no Springboks (except Butch James, which makes the situation worse as was proven this weekend) and losing players at regular intervals to other unions, the player turnaround has been extraordinary in recent times. But the fact remains that the Lions remains the entry point for many players, the place for professionals with no other real first team options, the place for the big 3’s fringe players to become starters. And yet they struggle.

The simple fact is that no team, even the struggling Lions, want any of the Kings players. And there’s a bloody good reason for that (as I’ll explain below), yet you, Mark, are of the opinion that these guys are the real deal, the saviors of South Africa’s blushes in Super Rugby, the men to finally drag an SA team out of the bottom 2. Bolloks.

The Lions compete in the Vodacom Cup as well, lest we forget. And yes Mark, so do the Kings. So while you enjoy throwing around statistics and numbers, afford me the opportunity to do the same.

The Lions, for all their woes, and even with their horrendous injury list, finished 4th in the North Section of the Vodacom Cup. And let’s get one thing clear, a Vodacom Cup side of a Super Rugby union is anything but a straight second team. While on tour Super Rugby sides have squads of 28 – 30, add say 5 injuries per squad (tad optimistic but ill humor you) and at best a Vodacom Cup side plays with numbers 36 and onwards, with their own injury problems to worry about.

Yet your beloved ‘we have a Super Rugby hand out’ Kings, with their top players – that’s from number 1 Mark – only managed to finish 3rd in the South section. Yet you want us to believe that they will do better? You want to convince the rugby public that the Kings are quality; that they have got it together, that they’ll be competitive. Surly a team that is set to compete in Super Rugby as is should be dominant against 2nd rate sides?

Next Super Rugby heroes Mark? Just who do you think you’re kidding?

The question is as obvious as your bias: Just what the bloody hell makes you think the Kings can do any better than the Lions? Their player base is subpar, and while they have money (as I’m told you are well aware of) they can’t go out and buy a team in a few months.

The premise of your entire argument for the Lions to be kicked out is that they are not competitive, that they don’t win enough matches to justify their participation in Super Rugby. And while there’s no arguing the Lions have been poor, there’s one hell of an argument to suggest that the Kings, at best, won’t do any better – and at worst will become the whipping boys of 2013, and while I’m as loyal as any red blooded South African rugby supporter, I will revel in their misery, I will take delight from their pain, and you, Mark, are the one to blame.

Time alone will prove me right or wrong, I know which side my money is on, and I know where yours is too, so to speak.

Comments

Francois04/30/2012 11:25
Well said. Mark Keohane is an absolute joke.
Reply
vanschaik5link04/30/2012 11:27
Bonty great written article!!! Will we ever see the FA deciding to let a 1st division team play in the champions legue!!!
Reply
Sportsmadwilly04/30/2012 11:42
100% on the money Pal. He forgets the fact that the Lions warm up team clubbed them 88-0.
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met_uysh04/30/2012 11:44
Great post! Ja, we all know the linkages between Keohane and the Watsons, so we all know why Mark is so hardup for the Kings to be included. The real criminals are saru though, for allowing people like him to ruin (no typo there!) SA Rugby!

“In die ’70s speel Polisie teen UCT. Cliffie en Skattie Etsebeth is Polisie se voorry en slot. Polisie se lynstaantekens is die normale 7, 12, 5, 9 ens maar UCT gebruik woorde soos Pithagoras, Kwadraat, Hippokrates ens. Daar was weer ’n lynstaan en dit is UCT se bal. Terwyl die manne oplyn en wag, roep UCT se haker weer die tekens. Cliffiie staan skynbaar voor en draai om en kyk na sy broer met die volgende woorde.

‘Skattie, vergeet al daai snaakse nommers… hulle gooi heeltyd op daai **** met die rooi baard.’”

He is not worth wasting words on…..

Sit back, relax and choose a new drill bit….

Talking to that dirtbag and telling me to shut it.

Hey Dawn, strange that……being ‘ordered’ to leave!!

No one tells Dawn that!! lol