Kings suffer big setback
5 Oct 2012
Saru says the Kings may only sign two foreign players for next year’s Super Rugby tournament, the same as the other South African franchises.
The Eastern Cape franchise announced two overseas signings earlier this week in Kiwi utility back Hadleigh Parkes and Argentina scrumhalf Nicolas Vergallo, and were hoping to sign at least another four foreigners to bolster their squad.
However, on Friday, Saru’s executive committee ruled that the Kings would have to abide by the same rules as the Bulls, Cheetahs, Sharks and Stormers in 2013.
This comes as a big blow to a new franchise that has only been given one guaranteed year of Super Rugby by Saru. In 2011, the Australian Rugby Union allowed the Melbourne Rebels to select 10 foreigners for their debut season in a bid to make them more competitive and the Kings were hoping that Saru would do something similar.
The Kings will now have to look to target South Africans playing within the country and overseas.
35 Comments
5 Oct 2012, 16:36 pm
What is good for the goose is good for all the Dragons…
5 Oct 2012, 16:45 pm
Serves them right_____bunch of idiots
5 Oct 2012, 17:03 pm
Bwahahahaha
They already signed 4 foreign players – keo does not mention anything about the has-been kiwi prop and the wife beating kiwi wing that they also have – how the hell are they going to fit 2 into 4.
5 Oct 2012, 17:20 pm
It looks like SARU made a promise to allow the Kings participation in the S15, but are quite happy for them to fail, and always loose their promotion/relegation match and hence never play again. SARU can’t be accused of not fulfilling their end of the deal.
SA rugby is a horrible landscape of politics and back stabing, promises, under the counter exchanges and deciet.
I personally don’t think the Kings deserve their spot, but it’s not an altogether bad thing. The Lions players will strengthen the other 4 franchises, and the Kings will be the ugly step sister who no one wants to sleep with except the insestuous Watson family.
The big picture is pretty sad though. No wonder SA never playes to its potential. NZ admin is so much more focused at a central goad. But they don’t have the complicated politics we do.
5 Oct 2012, 17:31 pm
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!
Serves you right, Daddy Puke.
5 Oct 2012, 17:35 pm
Kings want to play ANC type rules.
Only to realise it’s an international competition under the auspices of SANZAR.
Welcome to the real world, Cheeky.
5 Oct 2012, 17:39 pm
This is SARU’s way of ensuring that 2013 will be the last year the Kings play S15.
5 Oct 2012, 17:46 pm
@I am a stormer-6: @willievz-7: Exactly, shows that political wrangling never works in the long run. Let the best play. If they are good enough, and can beat the Lions or Cheetahs or Sharks etc and prove they are one of SAs top 5 teams, then fair let them play, but until then why should they be given prefferential treatment?
5 Oct 2012, 17:46 pm
They used up half their foreign allocation on a guy that couldn’t make the squad for the worst-placed team in the NZ conference last year
5 Oct 2012, 17:59 pm
Well done, SANZAR!
SARU continually trying to bend the rules & shift the goalposts.
5 Oct 2012, 18:08 pm
@BrumbiesBoy-10: It was not SANZAR who limited the foreign players for the Kings, it was SARU. SANZAR has allowed the Rebels 10 foreign players.
Try understand something first before you have a dig at it please.
5 Oct 2012, 18:14 pm
@blik-11: You mark my words it was SANZAR who told them to take a hike…
It will come out soon enough.
5 Oct 2012, 18:16 pm
Note sure if this is the latest:
=============================
The Southern Kings appear to have jumped the gun with their announcement of signing Lions hooker Bandise Maku and Toulouse’s Nicolas Vergallo for next season .
Maku has stated on Twitter that he has not signed for the Southern Kings while it is understood that Vergallo is contracted to Toulouse until 2014.
Maku said on Twitter that, “No final decision has yet been made on my future . You guys will be amongst the first to know what I decide.”
Furthermore the Lions have denied that the Kings have approached them for any of their players.
“Initially there was an emotional response and we were reluctant to say we would release players to the Kings. They banked on the principle that there would be a whole host of Lions players available.
“If we get a specific approach from a player to go to the Kings, we will need to consider it,” Lions acting CEO Ruben Moggee told SuperSport.
“We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves, why would we, for instance, loan a player to the Cheetahs and not the Kings? ”
“I can state to you publicly that neither Cheeky Watson nor any of his members have approached us to loan players and we’ve never denied any players to them.”
5 Oct 2012, 18:23 pm
SARU are so so stupid, it’s mind boggling and yet they still earn millions in salary courtesy of the sucker supporters
5 Oct 2012, 18:36 pm
I predict that Hoskins & his ilk will now work on some wara-wara story & come up with a “valid” reason why the Kinks should not have to play a promotion-relegation game next year.
They’ve backtracked and gone back on their word so many times in the past that I would not be in the least bit surprised.
Outta here shortly, back later or tomorrow.
5 Oct 2012, 18:39 pm
@BrumbiesBoy-12: I am not a fan of how SARU run things either, but you are wrong. SANZAR did not stop the Kings from fielding more freign players, SARU did.
5 Oct 2012, 20:40 pm
SARU finally stopped bending over for the Watsons. The sooner they are out of the Kings franchise people will stop disliking the Kings.
5 Oct 2012, 21:01 pm
@Treehugger-17: There is too much emotion clouding people’s thoughts about this issue. Irrespective of how they decided on the inclusion of the Kings the question is what is in the best interests of SA rugby. The development of a strong Border, EP and SWD region will ultimately benefit the game. One could question whether it should be at the expense of the Lions, the Sharks perhaps fortunate that they have managed to become a rather big franchise with better results and a bigger following, however in terms of future development not the biggest development area in rugby.
Rather unfortunate for the Lions is the fact that they are in close proximity to another big franchise in the Bulls and that they have managed to finish last on the log. If that had been the Cheetahs I wonder if SARU would have made the same decision to include the Kings at their expense as that might have had a big impact on development of rugby across SA. i don’t like the fact that the Lions have been the sacrficial lamb (we should have has another franchise slot) but ultimately I think the Kings development could be quite positive for the development of the game across population groups.
5 Oct 2012, 21:20 pm
I guess it is only a “big setback” if you sit on that side of the fence. Personally I think had the Kings been allowed to field 10 foreign players it would have made a COMPLETE MOCKERY of the reason why they were included in the first place… to unearth the so called hotbed of black rugby talent in SA.
And what do the Kiings do?…. sign the likes of pigmentally-pale journeymen like Sykes and Strauss! Bwahahaha.
5 Oct 2012, 21:50 pm
@Liewe Luiperd-19: Agree – That is exactly the point to this whole discussion. The reason why this team was established and able to push its way into the mix was the promise of local development.
It appears that there are so many rules being broken, political wrangling, lies, etc surrounding this deal that it is great that some basic rules are being applied fairly to the team
5 Oct 2012, 22:25 pm
You morons watch these fukkkers will achieve nothing. they were going to raid foreign players for fukkk sake!! so much for years of development so much for last years bleatings that they are ready any time for super rugby!!! lying toe rag cok-ended skunk fukkkers!! this region has nothing to fukkking offer anyways so what about the numbers. if numbers was so fukkking important than china should be the top fukkking rugby nation in the world. holy mother of fukkkk these fuktard half-wits need a mallett (no pun intended) to the balllz providing they have any. hoskins is a mudafuking doooos!!!
5 Oct 2012, 22:30 pm
@Liewe Luiperd-19: remember snors promise in 2007 mate???? he had 88 black players on a list ready to be boks these fukkkers make stupid fukking promises that could never ever come true and get heaps of cash to do it. why isnt the kings ready now???? this sh!!t has been going on for a decade for **** sakes. wheres this fukkking talent already?? usual shovel of sh!tty lies to get what they fukkking want. hope the fukkking kings get moered by the fans home and away, in the news and on the scoreboard. they deserve it.
5 Oct 2012, 23:23 pm
O’ daddy…o’daddy daddy puke o’daddy puke….o’daddy daddy….
Uitegevang ! Not only do they want to push themselves in on politically enforced bullsh!t but they want the rules changed to make it easier for them as well. Sounds a bit like all the other ‘redistribution’ tactics used in our banana republic.
5 Oct 2012, 23:49 pm
Well done!!! Kry vir julle Watson & kie. Development ha-ha-ha!!! I would feel something for them and support them if they for example has a team as such:
Main couch: Alan Solomons
Assistants: Peter de Villiers and Ricardo Laubscher
15. Coetzee (Lions)
14. Sethole (Sharks)
13. Serfontein (Bulls)
12. Mapoe (Lions)
11. Combrink (Lions)
10. Catracilis (WP)
9. Bondisio (Lions)
1. JC v Rensburg (Lions)
2. Maku (Lions)
3. Mujati (?)
6. Schoeman (Griquas)
4. Sykes (Sharks)
5. Van der Merwe (Lions)
7. Minnie (Lions)
8. Watson (EP)
+ all the available players from EP / SWD / Border
6 Oct 2012, 00:25 am
The Kinks?
6 Oct 2012, 08:13 am
Anyway, this is very exciting. With the foreign tap shut tight and the Lions being less than gracious in how they take being sodomised by the cheeky boys, we will now finally have a chance to witness the cream of 200 000 of SA’s legendary untapped talent.
Cannot wait.
6 Oct 2012, 08:23 am
King Cheeky said before this anouncement was made that kings are not in discussion with anymore foreign players, but they are in discussion with local players and hope to sign about nine more. think more names will be released on wednesday
6 Oct 2012, 08:27 am
What now. Does this mean good, strong South African talent is chopped liver?
6 Oct 2012, 08:40 am
At least our conference has a couple of extra byes now.
I truly hope they don’t concede fewer than 50 points in each match
6 Oct 2012, 08:43 am
@Predawn-28:
risk management. in the event that they don’t get sign enough sa players. cheeky did say that would be the absolute last resort
6 Oct 2012, 09:21 am
@katman-26: Me too.
6 Oct 2012, 10:02 am
@mamma_lou-30:
Never mind the black talent coming through from high school level. They aren’t good enough for Cheeky.
6 Oct 2012, 11:01 am
Saru is full of rubbish. All they do is think of themselves and it drives me up the wall.
They were the ones who caused the mess up by not letting both the Lions & Kings know early enough so now the Kings face pre season trying to find SA players who want to play Kings rugby & the Lions face losing their top players without time to replace them.
Its a pathetic situation the saru have caused because once again they do things with the idea that the IRB or SANZAR will just let them e.g. Expand the tournament. That should have been done earlier to make sure & as soon as this happens SARU then.make themselves out to be the victims. The whole thing is an absolute disgrace!
6 Oct 2012, 11:02 am
Another point is that many Argentine players would want to play in the S.H because international duty really pisses off their Top14 bosses.
6 Oct 2012, 11:47 am
I don’t really care how the Kings get their players as long as the Lions are clever enough to hold onto their players next year. The Lions are having a Lunch either next week or the one after and are going to reveal their road ahead. Rumour has it that the Sharks and Bulls are also helping to put these games together for the Lions.
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