Saru seeking lifeline for Lions
16 Aug 2012
The South African Rugby Union’s leadership says they have committed to finding alternative competitions for the Lions to participate in, including exploring the possibility of their inclusion in the European Cup.
On Thursday it was announced that the Lions would be the franchise to drop out of Super Rugby in 2013 in order for the Kings to be accommodated. This will leave the Johannesburg franchise without a high level of competition from the start of 2013 through to August, at which stage they’ll have a promotion-relegation play-off against the last-placed side in the South African conference.
The implications of this situation for the Lions are wide-ranging, the most significant of which is that their best players, many of whom are only have a couple of months to run on their contracts, will seek to play elsewhere.
Keo.co.za can confirm that the Lions’ leadership has already engaged their senior players on the idea of a loan to another franchise for 2013, in a bid to retain them. Whether this ploy succeeds remains to be seen.
Saru, represented by president Oregan Hoskins and CEO Jurie Roux at a press briefing in Cape Town, has insisted it is working to increase the options available to the Lions and their players.
‘The amount of work that went into trying to trying to find alternatives – entry into competitions in Europe, trying to get new structures in place [in Super Rugby, that is, changing the format to include an additional team] – just trying to get a better position for the franchise that was going to fall out, was continuous over the last six months,’ Roux said.
‘We reached the point where we couldn’t postpone this decision any longer but that doesn’t mean we can’t still find some form of competition for the Lions. That will be a tough task and maybe it will be a downgraded competition. We’ve been speaking to IRB about possible inclusion into the European Cup, the Nations Cup and Pacific Cup, just to provide an opportunity. We’ll even hope that somehow we can convince Sanzar that whatever [expansion] is happening post 2015 can be brought forward to 2014. We’d need to convince the broadcasters and partners and we’ll certainly try to at our next meeting.’
The financial implications for the Lions are self-evident, with a loss of gate, advertising and merchandising revenue (among other income streams) to seriously affect their bottom line. They already find themselves in a perilous financial state following the Guma Group’s withdrawal from the franchise and lengthy legal battles with franchise partners, the Pumas and Leopards.
However, Roux said they were open to discussing means of assisting the franchise financially.
‘We’ve got an agreed upon funding model that was decided in November 2009. It includes all six franchises. That runs through to 2015, so irrespective of whether you are playing Super Rugby or not you are still getting your share of the broadcasting revenue,’ he said.
‘No decision has been made on any additional funding. We need to look at how we can assist at keeping the Lions running so that they are able to compete should they win promotion in 2013.’
Roux also didn’t rule out the possibility of the Lions negotiating a merger with another franchise, although this is a highly unlikely scenario.
‘Initially there was a lot of discussion about the possible merger or whoever dropped out would go into a merger with the Kings for the rest of the period of the contract. [If] that happens is up to the Lions and the Kings. They are official franchises and should run their business accordingly,’ he said.
Roux added that the possibility that the Lions could challenge the decision legally, but said he hoped that wouldn’t happen.
Asked to assess their leadership on a saga that became incredibly messy and embarrassing for South African rugby, Hoskins said: ‘South African rugby is a tough terrain. We have passionate constituencies and it is always a more challenging environment than our Australasian partners. We’ve got to do the best we can.
‘We’ve done a lot of soul searching around this. The issue of the Spears goes back to 2005 so until now we’ve tried. Under all these circumstances it is the best we could do.’
By Ryan Vrede
90 Comments
16 Aug 2012, 17:56 pm
European Challenge Cup Dragons!
16 Aug 2012, 18:02 pm
‘We’ve been speaking to IRB about possible inclusion into the European Cup, the Nations Cup and Pacific Cup, just to provide an opportunity. We’ll even hope that somehow we can convince Sanzar that whatever [expansion] is happening post 2015 can be brought forward to 2014. We’d need to convince the broadcasters and partners and we’ll certainly try to at our next meeting.’
**strong>‘No decision has been made on any additional funding. We need to look at how we can assist at keeping the Lions running so that they are able to compete should they win promotion in 2013.’
Possible, hope, talks, no decisions, no plan, no roadmap – incompetence.
If anyone for one second thinks today’s decision provided a ‘solution’ they are ******* stupid.
I have been a vocal supporter of the Spears/Kings since 2007, today’s decision is even worse for rugby in this region than when they got shafted in 2007.
SA Rugby has no plan, no idea on how to fix this even if it is obvious to most rugby supporters and has been since 2005.
The level of incompetence is astounding.
The Lions will get the ‘support’ from SA Rugby the Kings enjoyed since 2005 – the Kings themselves are now given a ‘no-hope-in-hell’ chance to ‘prove’ they belong at Super Rugby level.
SA Rugby is littered with ******* idiots.
16 Aug 2012, 18:16 pm
PA
due to no planning this is doomed to fail
16 Aug 2012, 19:04 pm
2, hold on pa….i do not think you can lay all the blame squarely at saru doorstep. It is hardly their fault that the lions are superkak and superbroke and that ep weilds dangerous transformation polotics like it is a wild west sixshooter. Sure, promises were made, yet in this world despite the best of intentions…**** happens and plans change. Personally, i see it as the problem of the relevent unions and franchises to sort themselves out.
16 Aug 2012, 19:05 pm
O bloed!
16 Aug 2012, 19:09 pm
Wanted to post something but then i remember this is about politics… imo.
So nada.
16 Aug 2012, 19:10 pm
For me id give the ep franchise a 2 season grace period…..after that if they get relegated out of sight,tough luck, or the lions for that matter. PersonallY i do not see the ep franchise doing much because the feeder unions are pants.
16 Aug 2012, 19:17 pm
Despite that….european inclusion really excites me the way superrugb usedto
16 Aug 2012, 19:22 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl-4:
Forget the Lions Brig.
This deal gives the Kings no hope in hell to succeed.
16 Aug 2012, 19:24 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl-8:
If SARU could not get the Kings into European leagues, this is nothing more than lip-service.
They are shifting the problem to a team with a different coloured shirt. This is not a solution, it’s a cop-out.
16 Aug 2012, 19:25 pm
Kings must shape up or they are out next season and any player worth his weight is not going to sign for longer than to the end of next Super rugby season, the Lions will be back and then you sit without a game. I see MTN have backed the Lions until the mid 2013, and as for Guma thugs well Cheeky is welcome to them.
Transformation my eye, politics politics.
We will see how many people go to the matches after they have lost four on the trott, the same crowd that booed the springboks, complete plonkers.
16 Aug 2012, 19:41 pm
So, E-news just reported that the voting result was 23-6.
Each union gets 2 votes and Oregan gets 1 deciding vote.
That means that only 3 unions voted in support of the Lions.
My guess is that would be the Lions, Bulls and Sharks.
That means that all the smaller unions voted for the Kings, in order to avoid the 6th Currie Cup spot being reserved for the Kings if they didn’t get Super Rugby inclusion.
And it also means that the Cheetahs were looking after no.1 in trying to get the heat reduced by giving the Kings what they d*mn well demand.
And it also means that the Cape Crusader dominated WP cabal voted for the Kings as well.
That’s my take on how it went down.
16 Aug 2012, 19:53 pm
@Tacitus-12:
You know what they say about assumptions…
16 Aug 2012, 19:55 pm
@PissAnt-13:
I’d love if you could give us the true voting breakdown..
16 Aug 2012, 20:06 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl-4:
@Brigadier Van Zyl-7:
strongly agree.
16 Aug 2012, 20:10 pm
Do the European Teams get any say in this? I can’t see it happening, their schedule isn’t consistent with ours. Its a ridiculous suggestion, SARU are just trying to save face but that ship has long sailed.
16 Aug 2012, 20:12 pm
I still think that Sanzar should keep it at 15. With South Africa’s 6th team playing in Europe.
The big change that I would make would be to have each team only play against foreign opposition. 5 home and 5 away.
This will do away with the local teams playing each other when they have their own competitions to play against each other (time for Oz to fund their own union)
16 Aug 2012, 20:12 pm
@Tacitus-12:
Look at the upside.
You’ll get to see Super Rugby live. You might even get some Bulls autographs if you’re lucky.
Hell, you might even decide to buy season tickets to the Nelson Mandela Stadium.
16 Aug 2012, 20:13 pm
what really interests me is when the SANZAR agreement gets renegotiated in 3 years time. Its time to tell our ‘friends’ in SANZAR that as we bring in the money we call the shots. And hopefully by then we have an administrator who knows how to wheel and deal.
16 Aug 2012, 20:27 pm
If one must try to find an upside to this unholy politically motivated pile of faeces, then it would be something along the lines of: at least they should get to play the We Must Have It card once only, and that’s done now. And it came at a relatively small cost.
This is kind of like being tried for a crime you didn’t commit, and having to plead guilty to a lesser charge to serve one year instead of five.
Air punch.
16 Aug 2012, 20:30 pm
One year
Should make everyone happy
16 Aug 2012, 20:32 pm
@Dawn-21: Speak for yourself, unionist.
16 Aug 2012, 20:43 pm
can somebody plz tell which unions voted for the lions???
16 Aug 2012, 20:48 pm
@14261774-23:
E-News’ reported from SARUA HQ earlier said the voting result was 23-6.
But just now the news anchor said it was a unanimous decision. I think she was talking nonsense, because at the very least the Lions would have voted against it.
I believe the reporter from the scene earlier, with the lady anchor simply not knowing the difference between the meaning of unanimous and overwhelming.
16 Aug 2012, 20:50 pm
Sorry havent read any of the comments. Would just like to add that the ‘lifeline’ SARU is seeking sounds like a bunch of bla bla to me. It doesnt sound like theyve done shite.
The poor Lions and Kings are getting screwed big time.
Cant see a European inclusion happening ,which would actually be beneficial for the Lions financially, otherwise they would have mentioned it as being a viable solution. Wish it could be though. A 10 hour flight to europe compared to a 16 hour flight sounds better, plus same time zone…
16 Aug 2012, 20:58 pm
SARU can start by garanteeing that Ellispark is awarded a Test match against all touring sides in 2013, then they must award the side that is not playing super rugby the international 7′s tournament in December, and this is only to make up for loss of income.
The solution on loss of players is easy the Springboks should be chosen from the CC division as well, the current players only move to the big unions because the Springboks are only chosen from the S15 sides. Hopefully HM will spread his net wider.
Cheers see you in a years time I will be disconnectng my dstv and taking a sebaticle of all things SA rugby for a year.
Lions4Life.
16 Aug 2012, 20:59 pm
how many teams are there in the European cup?
Hypothetically speaking, I guess the Lions will have the benefit of having a bunch of home games before playing all there away games in a row and vice versa
16 Aug 2012, 21:01 pm
*their
16 Aug 2012, 21:09 pm
Well it was bound to happen. Broederbond pricks at the GLRU finally got what they deserved. Pfuckers all of them.
If they buy into this story then they are even more stupid than dogshit. I expect many a player to exercise their no super rugby escape clause to leave the den leaving then with a less than 40% chance of winning promotion back into super rugby. When the sponsors leave it is goodnight baby.
We will be back … In 2016 if the SARU pfuckers get it right.
16 Aug 2012, 21:17 pm
@Jeez-27:
Do you think the European teams want to fly 10 hours to play at altitude?
16 Aug 2012, 21:17 pm
fuckk you keo fuckk your azz buddy cheeky fuckk the kings and fuckk the anc. tuff titty pal
16 Aug 2012, 21:22 pm
Now Saru wants the Lions to embarrass us on a European scale!Crazy idea that will never get off the ground.
16 Aug 2012, 21:29 pm
Unionist!
16 Aug 2012, 21:36 pm
@Blitzbok-31:
Keo-caine is probably celebrating, dressed only in that hideous pink tie, with a couple of kilos of blow, Nikita the hockey chick and Ryan in his RuPaul outfit
Now he’s gonna roll in it, all the backroom communication deals made with Cheeky will kick in now
Watch this website, before the EOYT they’ll start pushing Puke for the Boks again
16 Aug 2012, 21:44 pm
everyone saying it is about politics you are missing the picture. it is about a stadium management contract for the nelson mandela stadium that cheeky and kie entered into after the world cup. stofile et al is part of this. they have profit sharing in this stadium in their contract. the ONLY hope in hell that they have to make PROFIT is to have super rugby there.
it is NOT about transformation, it is not about politics, hell it is not even about rugby, it is about a stadium management contract with vested intrests for the players in this saga, in short it is about MONEY, that is all.
cheeky and kie are using “transformation” as cover and as political leverage to get their stadium filled so that they can make MONEY. if it was REALY about transformation why does puke watson not make place for a more deserving black player, of which we hear EP has many? His WHITE *** (although him and his apartheid strugle hero dad think they are black) is keeping a more deserving black player on the bench.
If it was REALY about politics, transformation and rugby, why only 3 black players in the team? why import overseas WHITE coaches? why contract in WHITE players from other provinces?
Smoke and mirrors, just to keep your attention away from the shareholdings at nelson mandela stadium and the way these guys figured to make good of the profit sharing clause in their management contract. Learned their tricks from their ANC budies.
16 Aug 2012, 22:00 pm
Crazy decisionmaking. The Kings are dead ducks with a one year sword over their heads. The Lions thoroughly deserved their relegation. Promotion-relegation happens all over the world. Give the Kings two seasons and then move into a promotion-relegation system. West Ham didn’t go and play in Scotland when they got relegated. Roux and his band of loonies should move their meetings to Lentegeur.
16 Aug 2012, 22:16 pm
@Lang Giel-36:
To be fair to Roux he inherited this nonsense from Van Rooyen’s time
But Hoskins has no excuse, he had lots of time to settle it
16 Aug 2012, 22:52 pm
@PissAnt-2: This is a joke, how can this be……
Unbelievable!!
You could not make this up even if you tried. On a positive note all SA times now have 2 games, which will be soft and which should hand them a bonus point….this could protect our players from the more stupid Super 15 format
16 Aug 2012, 23:18 pm
@JL1-38:
You can also start taking bets which team would be the first to put 100 past them
Would it be the Crusaders, Chiefs, Jake’s Brumbies, Bulls, Stormers or Sharks?
16 Aug 2012, 23:23 pm
@Tac, the leopards and pumas voted for the lions – you one-eyed idiot. They are part of the glru, and s15 partners. Your Bulls voted against the lions, which is not surprising.
16 Aug 2012, 23:38 pm
40. Lions owe those okes millions i,m sure there is no love lost. Hypothetically speaking, one could argue that it would be a blackadderesque cunning plan for the bulls to vote against the lions because they know that in all likelyhood they get first dibs at any halfdecent lions player…if there are any.
?..and what of mitchell now by the way.
16 Aug 2012, 23:44 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl-41:
Tac said that there is only room for one Super team in Gauteng
Now it’s going to happen
16 Aug 2012, 23:52 pm
@Brig, exactly re Bulls having 1st dibs on the players. Bulls are the union to geographically gain the most and thats their vote. JohnM is a goner I think. Lions dont have the money and this dc was instigated in the exec.
16 Aug 2012, 23:56 pm
Btw, tac is and remains a blue infused inbred imbecile longing for the old days.
17 Aug 2012, 00:20 am
@Slappes-44: Articles like these just shows how little SA has grown in 20 years
You sound jealous?
17 Aug 2012, 00:41 am
There was also some talk of the Bulls and Lions merging.
The Bulls didn’t like this idea one bit.
Even if the rest of SA could see the clear benefits.
No wonder they voted to sink the Lions.
17 Aug 2012, 00:47 am
@Humphrey-46:
Wouldn’t have worked, just like the Cats didn’t work
Why must the Bulls give up half their gate takings to the Lions and accomodate their players to the detriment of their own?
17 Aug 2012, 00:50 am
I’d propose a draft system, like that in American football. That way the Lions get to keep ownership of their players for the play off game in 2013 and Super 15 in 2014, and their best players get valuable game time next year. It will also be good for SA rugby, strengthening all the SA teams by dispersing the best players from the 6th team that doesn’t make it, for a loan spell. In January each year they could do a televised “auction” where each of the other 5 teams is allowed to walk away with up to 3 players each from the 6th (and relegated team).
17 Aug 2012, 00:55 am
Would SARU really want to send the most poorly performed team in the S15, less probably some existing key players, with a lack of funds, into the Euro comp to compete with some of the worlds best funded teams? Would the Euro teams even contemplate travelling to SA to play some ‘easy beats’? I bet this is lots of words and very little action.
In reality, none of the 3 S15 nations can field 5 truly competitive teams today. NZ come closest in most years, but even there one of the teams (but not always the same one) tends to struggle. Suggesting that SA will suddenly be able to field 6 teams to be competitive in the worlds two hardest club comps is delusional.
17 Aug 2012, 01:06 am
@Humphrey-48:
Do you really think SARU has the ability to arrange it?
Look how long it took to (unsatisfactorilly) settel the Kings problem
17 Aug 2012, 01:07 am
@aliboy-49:
Fly 10 hours to play one of the weakest SA teams at altitude?
Yeah right
17 Aug 2012, 02:26 am
This looks bad news for SA Rugby. You are going to loose a lot of talent to overseas clubs
17 Aug 2012, 02:57 am
Keo, Saru has proved, time and again, that it cannot organise the proverbial piss-up in a brewery, so why would anyone with half a brain place any store on their efforts to ‘seek a lifeline for the Lions? Saru personifies useless half-wits, the lunatics are running the asylum.
17 Aug 2012, 04:44 am
South african players are going to ensure clauses are included into their contracts for realease upon their franchise being demoted…so they can go to the promoted franchise. Loaning is a good strategy….when it comes to the peomotion demotion playoff recall your loan players.
17 Aug 2012, 06:02 am
It must be about loot. It’s certainly not about the best for SA rugby! Instead of the Lions management getting a share of the Super cash, it’s now Kings (read Cheeky & his pals including keow). Lions have never really tried to be better, sticking with creaking old structures and dinosaur management. I feel for players like Doppies, Strauss, Minnie et al who put their bodies on the line for the amusement and financial benefit of their managers. Will Kings be any different; I doubt it.
17 Aug 2012, 07:29 am
How big a knock will all the lost revenue from super rugby for a year be for the lions?
Can they absorb that?
17 Aug 2012, 09:53 am
Am I reading this right?
SARU in their arrogance, assured all SA’n franchises a place in Super Rugby irrespective of the fact they had no agreement from their partners.
Just imagine the eyebrow raising such a suggestion would garner if a NH country suggested they were working to have SANZAR accomodate some loser outfit because their administors woke up with a hard on one day and promised something they couldn’t deliver.
17 Aug 2012, 10:05 am
@I am a stormer-18: Tacitus stays in Southernwood, East London. An old **** with no good life prospects, dead end Moaner.
17 Aug 2012, 10:31 am
@XhosaKid-58: tac is a very intelligent commentor whether you agree with him or not.
you would do well to respect yourself a little more.
17 Aug 2012, 10:40 am
And you are a BEE space filler who delivers credit cards to the idle rich.
17 Aug 2012, 10:45 am
At least I have good future prospects
17 Aug 2012, 10:46 am
Promotion to cheque book deliveries?
From there it’s a short hop to Minister of Finance.
17 Aug 2012, 11:12 am
Lions are kak, they don’t deserve to be in Super Rugby, they have done jacksh#t in 10 years, time to give another franchise a chance. As for Lions playing in Europe, they will be slaughtered, best to focus on Vodacom Cup for a while.
17 Aug 2012, 11:29 am
SARU can’t organize a bonk in a brothel…
17 Aug 2012, 11:33 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-4:
Lions should be raided by the bigger unions (even further) and made to languish in the Currie Cup.
17 Aug 2012, 12:01 pm
@gunther-62:
naughty gunther
@RedCard-64:
can the lions do the same..?..
17 Aug 2012, 12:11 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-66: Off course, but unfortunately my Lions are mostly on the receiving end of it…
17 Aug 2012, 12:15 pm
@RedCard-67:
so they can organise a bonk in a brothel but they’d be the ones getting bonked..?..
hehehe
17 Aug 2012, 12:17 pm
i can see how that kinda organisational skills could land you in a lot of trouble.
17 Aug 2012, 12:25 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-68: The only difference in this regard is that if you are on the receiving end one usually should take some money afterwards… Don’t think that’s going to happen though…
17 Aug 2012, 12:41 pm
Strange, the sun still came up this morning.
Seems the world didn’t end, despite the Kings being given Super Rugby status.
17 Aug 2012, 12:54 pm
With a comment like that I’m now glad your team never made the Super 15 final.
17 Aug 2012, 13:21 pm
@cjgrove-65:
Who gives a rats, what you think, Kings will be an outcast of sarugby supporters and a lot of supporters will shout for AUS and NZ teams to beat them.
17 Aug 2012, 13:23 pm
catrakillis is a transformation player?
i know the greeks are basically white turks after the ottomans got ahold of their women but i dont think they will take kindly to this.
i expect a lot of plate smashing.
17 Aug 2012, 15:04 pm
This is a tragedy for the lions but they are partially to blame for the mess they are in and have to suffer the consequences of their actions.I do not think for one minute the kings will be any better and will be last on the log in super rugby as the lions were,they will bring absolutely nothing to super rugby,talk about a quota decision.
17 Aug 2012, 15:30 pm
its quite simple really.if u take away all the bullshit,provincialism and capitalism and think purely in rugby terms the super 15 is a league and if u end up last u leave whether it be the bulls.stormers or sharks.
So sorry Lions u pussiesfcuk off and give the kings their chance
17 Aug 2012, 15:31 pm
What I found interesting is the outcry about a freight train that was hurtling down the tract for 5 years already. Now suddenly everyone is totally shocked. How typical of “Utopians” that saw but didn’t wanted to acknowledge an inevitable decision like this. After all, once has to acknowledge that this is SARU and it has in the past, again and again, made very strange decisions with no sense of consistency.
If this is a financial decision then it makes total sense. The GLRU is barely making money, if any and attendance for a big city like Johannesburg has been shocking for years. If the PE area is rugby hungry then there will be a better chance of financial success than JHB. It is a gamble worth taking from a business prospective.
If this is a transformation decision then it also makes sense in the long run. Although they may not have the players now it could inspire younger players of the region to strive for local greatness and pride in their region’s team. It is a gamble worth taking.
If this is a rugby decision then I feel SARU failed miserably because didn’t go far enough and as Pissant said, they have no clear vision for rugby in SA. First, to give the Kings just 1 year to establish themselves and get good players is ridiculous. It is a setup for failure. No sensible professional player with long term dreams of making rugby a career will become a mercenary player. Only over the hill has-beens will do that. The fact that Toulon has succeeded with this kind of growth policy is because of some crazy Frenchman with too much money and lots of rugby passion. It won’t work in the corrupted world of Eastern Cape politics/rugby. Second, if SARU has the power to make decision like this then why not also merge the Bulls and the Lions? Why have 2 teams that are only 50 kilometers apart? Geographically it makes perfect sense from a rugby and financial viewpoint. SA is too small from a spectator and support point of view to have the luxury of 2 teams in the same and smallest province. That has been proven the past 10 years with the Lions. Individual team history is not important since SARU is supposed to look for forward not backwards. But seeing that there is no chance of the Bulls merging with the Lions, the Lions will probably become extinct in the near future from a S15 view. And even if they are to be included in a future S16 or S20 the competition will just become watered down with more mediocre teams.
Notwithstanding the usual pessimism that rules this website let’s hope rugby still has a long life and stays a game we can enjoy and appreciate. After all it is just a game to enjoy not oxygen.
17 Aug 2012, 15:41 pm
@Amerifikaner-77:
Probably the most objective comment on the subject thus far.
Now brace yourself for the frothing, irrational masses (mostly from above the vaal)
17 Aug 2012, 15:53 pm
@Amerifikaner-77: Ja, I don’t know where the outcry from the lions union came from.Their supporters all seem to know that they only have themselves to blame. They’ve come ‘last’ 6/7 seasons, what did they even get out of super rugby in the first place.
It remains to be seen what EP Kings can do with one year, or even three years for that matter. There are LOADs of current top players from that region playing elsewhere, and until recently EP were one of the bigger provinces(way better than the banana boys, remember Danie Gerber). If they can make it work, then SA rugby will benefit.
17 Aug 2012, 15:57 pm
@shebeen-79: i counted 6 players from the region in the Bulls team alone
17 Aug 2012, 16:11 pm
@TooMuchRugby-80: The Sharks have 7
17 Aug 2012, 17:57 pm
I don’t know.
But looks like the problem goes back to …the GLRU and JHB metro.. not getting together and fixing the stadium – Ellispark…. getting it up to standard. For supporters to want to go there.
One of the most major differences between the Bulls and the Lions – looks at the bank account.
Full stadiums pay the players, the coaches and programs.
So it goes back along way. Or did Louis Luyt leave with all the money? Or was he the last good news the Lions had. Or was he bankrolling the Lions.
Will Ellispark park be there in 10 years’ time?
17 Aug 2012, 18:58 pm
@ 77 Amerikifaner, well said and add to that the fact that the lions sealed their own fate by ending stonefarkinglast AGAIN in 2012. Also the kings should given at least 3yrs in sr, while the lions slowly disappear from sa rugby scene.
17 Aug 2012, 19:08 pm
@shebeen-79:
> until recently EP were one of the bigger provinces
Don’t get your hopes up, EP has never even played in a Currie Cup final
18 Aug 2012, 07:32 am
“…while the lions slowly disappear from sa rugby scene.”
In your dreams Slappes. We’ll be back and when we return, we will be stronger than before. The only ones doing the disappearing act will be the entitlement boys from PE.
Ultimately, a province widely regarded as the most corrupt in the country – and housing a rugby union that has done fokkal…that’s right, fokkal…won fokkal of value…in its history will sink without a trace when weighed up against a rugby union in the heart of South Africa’s – and the continent’s – economic engine.
Yes, we’ll be gone next season, but long term there is only one loser: the bankrupt, corrupt, nepotistic, ****** useless Eastern Cape and its entitlement Kings.
Enjoy 2013, it’s all you’ll ever get. From then on, it’s merit, promotion/relegation stuff, no more crying to the government, demanding what you don’t deserve.
Those days are over, mate…and with them, the Kings.
18 Aug 2012, 08:50 am
If the Lions are dropped from Super Rugby and the Kings are put in their place, we should all stay away from the Kings games, and makes sure Saru suffers financially. Stay away guys.. Lets start some activism against Saru’s arrogance. Rugby fans should not be intimidated by these ********, after all, the fans are the ones who pays their ample salaries.. Hit it where it hurts most! The new struggle is about to begin!
18 Aug 2012, 09:34 am
@Joe Maher-85: Well said, Joe. Corrupt crooks, the lot of them. How many millions have been pumped into that “union” in the last decade?
Bunch of thieves.
@phearlessphred-86: Couldn’t agree with you more.
BOYCOTT, BOYCOTT, BOYCOTT.
18 Aug 2012, 11:41 am
@Amerifikaner-77: There are some complete truths in what you say that cannot be ignored…..but there are also some questionable statements that….if you don’t mind I’d like to take umbrage with….
1. “If this is a financial decision this make total sense” – Nope……it doesn’t. Yes the Golden Lions have been running at a loss with their pathetic attendance and the rubbish results they’ve had for the past 4-5 seasons……BUT…….the Eastern Cape is one of the poorest regions in the country…..and how long do you think it’s going to take the rugby watching public to fall OUT of love with a team that’s taking a hammering week in and week out? No-one is going to shell out their hard earned rands to pay for tickets to watch a 3rd bunch of no-hopers get smashed 87-3…..it will only be a matter of time before the wonderful new stadium is empty…..while the rubbish Kings play in front of nothing more than empty seats and dust bunnies.
So….no…..not a good financial decision.
2. “If this is a transformation decision it also makes sense”….. How? It will take 10 years at least before the kids in the region begin to stay and play for the Kings…..so this in the short term (and this all the Kings are….short term) is going to do nothing for transformation. In turn……the Kings will be taking a huge paycheck from SARU and going on a shopping spree…..buying other franchises players. This now weakens the other franchises – especially if they manage to garner some big name players. So we now have an overall slightly weaker South African contingent playing in the Super15 just for the sake of forcing the Kings into it……and in all likelihood just for a single season….as we all can’t see them winning their promotion/relegation match at the end of the season.
So no…..this is a very short term thing and wont do anything for transformation.
3. Where I agree with you completely is in your assessment of SARU….and just how little it’s done for rugby in SA….along with it’s ZERO outlook for the future of the sport. Their planning and long term idea’s for the sport are putrid….but then what could we expect from a bunch of incompetent politically appointed muppets?
If SA Rugby is too survive and prosper…..this lot need to be thrown out into the street on their collective ears….and we need to bring in proper rugby men with a love of the game the best interests of the sport at heart to administrate. SARU should be a vocation…..not just a job.
Rugby is without question the most successful sporting code in the country and the most financially successful sport without peer.
In normal business a company of this financial magnitude would only accept top successful executive to run it……sadly we employ muppets due to political influence…..
Only in Africa…….only in Africa……
19 Aug 2012, 22:14 pm
Do we know for who the individual unions voted?
20 Aug 2012, 15:13 pm
@Dwarslat-89: The 2 who did not vote for the EC: Saaarks and Bulls.
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