Transforming the way we think
15 Oct 2012
MARK KEOHANE, in his Business Day newspaper column, writes that the story of the Kings should be about hope and not ridicule.
The South African Rugby Union has never believed in the Eastern Cape as anything but an irritation to professional rugby but also a corporate cash cow in the name of development.
If any within the current administration refutes this then I challenge them to publicly apologise to the region for the way in which entry to Super Rugby was finalised and to apologise for making the Kings hated among a certain sector of provincial South African fan because they replaced a South African team, in the form of the Lions.
Saru’s apathy to the Eastern Cape needs to consistently be challenged. It has always been this way since professionalism in 1996. Saru, when convenient, uses the Eastern Cape as the missing link to a rugby rainbow nation but those with the responsibility within Saru have never had the heart and intent to make it the link. Instead all love for the Eastern Cape has been commercially and politically motivated.
It is disgusting. It has always been disgusting. It won’t easily change.
The Kings, on Super Rugby entry, should have been the good-news story of unity. It should have been fully endorsed because in a united rainbow nation it is very necessary to have a team from within the Eastern Cape in Super Rugby’s biggest southern hemisphere tournament. The Kings, representative of rugby in the Eastern Cape, should have been the missing link to show the game has finally transformed, not in black playing numbers, but by way of the thinking among administrators, supporters and the media in South Africa.
The backlash, resentment and resistance to the Kings suggests there is more than one link missing in a united South Africa and a united South African rugby structure.
Equally disturbing is how so many supporters refuse to see the significance of the Eastern Cape within the context of a healthy professional South African rugby international presence.
The administration has never surprised me. They have neither the intellectual capital nor the charisma (as individuals or a collective) to inspire. The game’s growth needs pioneers and instead the conveyer belt only produces pensioners, if not by age then certainly by way of enthusiasm and aspiration.
The administration of South African rugby has allowed for an emotional distaste for the Kings among supporters that is misplaced.
The Kings have not replaced the Lions in Super Rugby. They were given introduction to the tournament in place of the South African team that has been the worst performer in Super Rugby in 2012. Not historically, but only this year.
The Lions supporters really have to blame their players, coaches and the Lions administration that the Lions were the ones to make way. The Lions were the architects of their own demise, however temporary it may be.
Saru’s leadership, throughout the last year, have allowed for the resentment from those supporters to fester into something ugly. Not once has a voice within Saru preached perspective and done it with conviction. The platitudes have been that the Kings would play Super Rugby because it was best for South African rugby; that the decision was about transformation and had to be made.
What a cop out.
Transformation is in the way we should be thinking, not in how many black friends we have or how many black players the provincial or regional or national coach selects.
Transformation should be about the right kind of change and not change for the sake of change.
The Kings, as an entity, should have reflected the change of thinking in South African rugby but it has only reinforced how little has changed in the thinking within the game in this country.
Alan Solomons, formerly as EP head coach and now director of rugby, has done an unrivalled job with the EP Kings when you unemotionally consider what he has transformed about Eastern Province rugby in the last four years.
Those who disagree with me will do so on emotion and by way of not having been privy to the transformation, as a rugby entity, from four years ago.
Before you rant and accuse me of being on the Kings payroll, take a drive or get on bus, train or plane and sit with Solomons and do your own analysis of what has been achieved over the last four years.
There is so much vitriol aimed at the Kings because of Saru’s refusal to endorse change and absolute conviction that Sanzar would accommodate a sixth South African team.
The vitriol should be at those who govern our game, not the Kings, who on Saturday won the Currie Cup First Division in a titanic struggle against the Pumas.
To borrow from an American president, those within South African rugby should ask not what the Kings can do for them but more what Saru, as the custodians of the game in this country, could have done for the Kings.
Currently they have done nothing but set them up for Super Rugby failure and sadly they’ve hoodwinked so many supporters to embrace the prospect of this failure because they’ve made the Kings the bad guy, the Lions the fall guy and stood tall as the good guy.
Think about it …
942 Comments
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15 Oct 2012, 16:16 pm
Very exiting one on ones happening. Cant wait to watch Arno Botha and Keegan slog it out. Think Keegan has the edge though. As for the backs, they can be identified because they generally have clean jerseys and identifiable partings in their hair…come the revolution the backs will be the first to be lined up against the wall and shot for living parasitically off the work of others
15 Oct 2012, 16:17 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-399:
when daniel said “but sir, i cant do nothing if they lift me up” after his little crowd surfing stunt against the argies… i larfed..
15 Oct 2012, 16:20 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-398:
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Eddie.Minora – October 15, 2012 at 15:33
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ya right, a downward momentum!
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Reply to Eddie.Minora
15 Oct 2012, 16:20 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-399: If HM dropped Daniel for a better player?? no problem, also HM should have kept Daniel on the bench as he still could cause headachs with his style of play etc
Lambie,Daniel,and JDJ were wasted by being with the Boks
Take Marcel? of course we happy he got game time etc, but one can clearly now see the effects on his game by having been played out of position by HM.
Anyhows THat’s just my point of view, others will differ and i am sure Plum will choose the side as he sees fit, will would prolly differ a lot from mine
15 Oct 2012, 16:22 pm
Drop Keegan?
Surely not???
Hope not anyway….he is crucial for Sharks imo, especially without Kanko there….
Thought Deysel had a great game Friday evening as well….play Alberts last 30 min rather…
15 Oct 2012, 16:24 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-402:
You are trapped in a room with a vicious lion, a rattlesnake and a Bulls supporter. You have a revolver with only two bullets. What should you do?
Shoot the Bulls supporter twice!
15 Oct 2012, 16:24 pm
@Transformation-370:
i can see why some people on this blog don’t like you. expecting people to provide evidence if they make allegations! you must never ever..
15 Oct 2012, 16:26 pm
@rangerman-403:
huh?
15 Oct 2012, 16:27 pm
@RL-386: while you’re still busy fishing for morsels to besmirch EP…enjoy this bit of wisdom from yore
10.PissAnt said:
18 Sep 2006, 08:50 am
Kerneels,
Amicable solutions have been offered since January – Saru just simply refused to listen or entertain any of them.
As a company, the Spears did the only thing left for them to do, because Saru basically left them no choice.
Throwing money at the 3 unions is exactly what they have been doing for over 10 years – and it is the reason why a union like EP are over R10-mil (much more actually) in debt.
Throwing money at them, does not help the unions to a) keep players, b) develop rugby in the reason because of not being able to keep players.
I fail to see how this serves rugby in any way.
The bigger unions will carry on raping the SEC region, and things will basically remain the same as it has always been.
But I guess that is exactly what Saru and the big 5 want, not to rock the boat, and to keep things nice and cosy for the broederbond.
15 Oct 2012, 16:27 pm
Bulls got no chance in Durbs imo….they got nothing that sharks cant counter….Sharks have the aces in the pack ….Lambie….Jp P….Ludick….Jordaan and the class front row and better loosis…..
1 way traffic
15 Oct 2012, 16:28 pm
@mamma_lou-407:
15 Oct 2012, 16:30 pm
@LoanShark-406:
come saturday you gonna feel like shooting.
@rangerman-403:
i think he meant ‘downward pressure’
as in: ‘downward pressure’ was all the bulls players needed in placing the ball after his ‘momentum’ carried him over the sharks line.
15 Oct 2012, 16:30 pm
@mamma_lou-407: Transformer is a denialist – he denied the 200 000 which McKeever said existed and used as motivation for franchise inclusion and now here he is denying the fact that the Kings have been getting a superrugby cheque since 2009.
Transformer be slippery and duplictious – if he wants his evidence he can google it straight from the lips of Jurie Roux. .
15 Oct 2012, 16:30 pm
@grant10-405: Keegan wont be dropped, I was looking at a way to waste the Bulls up front first and set the faster boys loose later in the game.
this article made me laugh big time, as Typically Bulls cape jawing off, they forget the rain helped them in DBN a few weeks ago and also Plum decided to play Viljoen at 10 ib that match etc etc, Viljoen had one of his worst matches ever in the downpour
Lambie will not make the mistakes Viljoen did and it seems dry weather for Saturday is in order.
Johannesburg – The Vodacom Blue Bulls believe they have the momentum to upset the Sharks in Durban this coming weekend in their Absa Currie Cup semi-final.
According to supersport.com website, a few weeks ago the competition looked certain to deliver Dewald Potgieter’s side into the jaws of a promotion-relegation battle, but after this weekend’s comprehensive win – the team’s third in four matches – they claimed the unlikely fourth spot and will head to Durban for the semi-final.
With the Bulls enjoying a welcome return to form and momentum now with their Springboks in the side, they suddenly have a renewed self-belief that they can not only compete in Durban, but have a chance to sneak into the final as well.
While the Sharks will start as overwhelming favourites this weekend, and have home ground advantage as a massive factor in the game, the Bulls are backing themselves to take another step up and continue their run from the back of the field.
A fortnight ago the Bulls were somewhat unlucky to go down 13-12 in driving rain as the Sharks used their chances. But there is no doubt this Bulls team has improved significantly since that rainy night in the coastal city. And with the Sharks able to bring their Springboks back this week to bolster their team, it makes the clash even more intriguing.
Especially if you consider the Sharks have only lost one game this year – against the Chiefs – in Durban, and last lost a Currie Cup game in October 2011 at their home ground. In the Currie Cup, the last time the Blue Bulls won in Durban was in 2006, although they have had some Super Rugby victories at the ground between then and now.
The whole scenario has not been lost on captain Dewald Potgieter, who believes the momentum has given them a massive boost ahead of the semis.
“This win (over the Lions) definitely does it for us. If you look at our season we’ve beaten every side this season at least once. If you look at the Sharks, we beat them at Loftus and we came really close in Durban. There was a lot of talk that week of it being a difficult fixture for us and playing the Sharks in Durban was a bit overdone. The game showed the guys we can beat them in Durban and we can play well there,” Potgieter said.
But the captain was also honest enough to know his team would need to up their game before the weekend. For now though, he’s just happy they are here in the playoffs, a long shot from where they were a few weeks ago.
“This whole week will go about our preparation for the Sharks. It is all we can focus on. Four weeks ago I just asked the guys for a chance to play in the playoffs and we have that now. We did sneak in at the end though and despite the fact that it was a big victory there is still a lot of work for us to do this week and we need to focus on taking it one day at a time,” he added.
The Bulls struggled in the first half against the Lions and were 10 points behind at one stage, but slowly gained ascendancy up front, allowing flyhalf Morne Steyn to dictate and eventually ran out easy winners as the Lions gave away soft tries in the second half.
Potgieter said this was simply a case of adjusting with the Boks returning and needing time to settle in. Once the adjustments were made up front, he added, the game changed in their favout.
“Guys expect our pack to dominate but these guys haven’t trained a lot together for a long time. We had just as many disruptions and players returning, that’s why we struggled a bit in the first half. For the Boks that returned, it took them a while to see how the Lions attacked – there was a lot of movement off the ball and while we spoke about it last week, it’s one thing to talk, but another to make the adjustments we made and it is credit to the talent the Boks have to make that a reality.”
Despite some unhappiness about the system – which has suddenly cropped up this past weekend when the Bulls snuck in, Potgieter praised the competition format as “one of the best ever”.
“In the last weekend anyone of the bottom four teams could still have played relegation matches. It’s sad that there hasn’t been a lot of attendance, but it is one of the best Currie Cups I’ve played in. All the teams were strong, and not one team was consistent the whole way through. This was the last weekend and everybody upped their game. There was great rugby all around and the Lions were a good side to play. We knew we needed to be hungry and be at our best and we’re just happy we made it through.”
The Bulls are likely to keep an unchanged team this weekend for their clash in Durban.
15 Oct 2012, 16:31 pm
@LoanShark-406: Fire both shots at the wall? Hope one of the 2 rounds goes through and hits a Sharks supporter sitting on the other side?
Onleeeeeeeeeeeee kidding.
Have a good evening all.
15 Oct 2012, 16:32 pm
’1 way traffic’
i’m gonna pocket that one
15 Oct 2012, 16:34 pm
Ranger
Im not a fan of tribalism. Its the worst kind of self loathe. I have been lucky enough to played in mixed teams. Sharing cultures. So its lovely having a culture mix.
Coincidenterly it was always Xhosa guy playing in the backs and Zulu guys playing in forwads. Never got how that always happened.
15 Oct 2012, 16:35 pm
@grant10-410:
Do not discount the WhoopAss factor.
Tacitus will surely not buy from the same supplier again.
15 Oct 2012, 16:39 pm
@WP-Forever-418:
you mean like the same whup-*** they opened on saturday night?
two flavours
cerise and powder blue
i hope its the cerise
wouldn’t that be awesome
15 Oct 2012, 16:39 pm
@RL-413: what happened to the R100 bar franchise?
11.RedLion! said:
18 Sep 2006, 08:52 am
SARU are desperate to fix the mistake that they created and will act like a virus to destroy that Spears mistake from within.
They realise that they face a revolution from the big 5, Supersport and major sponsors who in my opinion should leave the SARU circus and form their own body, they have had enough of this nonsense.
Face it the Spears idea evolved 5 years too early. It is good for rugby because the Lions a R100 million rand franchise will not suffer unnecessarily. That is what this is about.
15 Oct 2012, 16:40 pm
Fantastic article. Thank u Keo for saying it.
15 Oct 2012, 16:41 pm
@WP-Forever-418: LOL
I am very confident the sharks will bury the bulls….
6 love..all over rover, goodnite nurse….
No Steggmann . …a 10 that will be easy to plan against…..Juandre Kruger a standout amongst journeymen….
15 Oct 2012, 16:42 pm
@skunk-417: ask Heavens Game for an answer to that one
15 Oct 2012, 16:44 pm
On the KINGS saga, they have been by far the most improved franchise in the country over the past 18 odd months, whilst the other franchises have been faltering around in the CC. Do not underestimate them!
15 Oct 2012, 16:44 pm
@grant10-422: MSteyn kicked 23 points! did you see?
15 Oct 2012, 16:46 pm
@Transformation-420:
I deny ever saying that – where is the evidene!
Now go and find Jurie Roux’s statement and while you are at it show the evidence on Lukes annual pay.
15 Oct 2012, 16:46 pm
@RL-413: So, you make an unfounded allegation, then demand Transformation to prove it otherwise, are you really that thick?
15 Oct 2012, 16:46 pm
@charo-246: Ha, ha not true though, Dr Flip (I think) Meyer always stood for the HNP in the Ladysmith constituency in the 80s – I think he averaged about 17 votes.
15 Oct 2012, 16:48 pm
I suppose the Spears is like rugby’s Zoomerland at Nkandla. Spears get cash from SNAFU, spend 50% of it on the head honcho’s lighty (of which keow gets a nice rake off), fill up with imports from outside SA, then who cares whther they win or lose; the money is in the bank. We won’t mention Guinness Solomons who has the integrity of well, Julius Malema – see its not a racial thing. They might survive in S15, or they might not, very few people will care except some suckered fans from EP (Pissant et al).
Is it good for SA Rugby? Not that I can see. Is it good for EP Rugby? Obviously not otherwise why import players from outside of SA? Just maybe in the longer term it will work out but who in SA thinks long term. Every man for himself boyo’s.
15 Oct 2012, 16:50 pm
@XhosaKid-427: pfffft google it then tell me it is not true. I dare you to.
15 Oct 2012, 16:51 pm
@husky-429: How old are you again?
15 Oct 2012, 16:51 pm
@Transformation-425: I did see….I know he can kick at altitude …..lets see how he goes up against a focussed and committed sharks team…..
6 love
I am extremely confident about that…
15 Oct 2012, 16:54 pm
@XhosaKid-427: hahahahaha uyagula lomntu chap, inokuba ebecinga ukuba ndizakumphikisa then yena andiqhokre ngayo lo-article, ingxaki ngoku ndivele ndavuma ndathi makeze ngaphambili nobingqina…
uchanekile.
15 Oct 2012, 16:55 pm
@RL-430: No, I won’t I’m not an idiot, or at least I think I’m not, why would I go looking for something you are alleging, prove your allegation or shut the phark up!!!, its that simply really.
15 Oct 2012, 17:02 pm
@skunk-417: haha, i was just joking around bud lol.
tribalism can be very damaging i agree but my tribe is the sharks!
15 Oct 2012, 17:03 pm
@XhosaKid-434: look Transformer denied the 200 000 and for months rubbished everyone who said that number – well it was I that posted the link quoting Tony M on that number shutting the Transformer on that angle.
Now maybe I will correct the Transformer again, maybe not but it is out there. Ask Jurie Roux or google the evidence.
15 Oct 2012, 17:03 pm
@Transformation-433: Ezi-chaps azibhadlanga nyani bra, abezenzi, akukho ngqondo qha!!!
15 Oct 2012, 17:04 pm
In a single word this thread is SICK.
In actual fact, every single “King’s” thread has become sick for it draws the dishonest, lying racists like moths to a light.
If you truly want to know who the bigots are go to any “King’s” thread and 99.99% of them will surely be there. And they have become increasingly nakedly blatant about it.
I have not even bothered to attempt to read such rubbish but just a hasty scrolling of less than half, exposes some gems of note(but I know them all already).
15 Oct 2012, 17:07 pm
@Neilanate-438: thats obviously how you ended up here then et.
bleddy agent.
15 Oct 2012, 17:07 pm
@RL-436: Can you or can you not provide proof thereof, if the latter, then shut the phark up!!!, its that simple, I don’t give a rats behind about allegations that can’t be proven. I have seen enough evidence of braai-talk bulshyyt emerging as fact on Monday.
15 Oct 2012, 17:07 pm
@XhosaKid-434: uyambona ke??
ufuna wena uphike! HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA
15 Oct 2012, 17:07 pm
Tacitus is talking straight k@k. Now the kings are actually part of the sharks all along and must enforce their contract with sharks and get back payments and interest like a farking child maintenance claim. What does that make the sharks? Dead beat dads? lol
15 Oct 2012, 17:08 pm
As Slover said,we can only blame Saru.They should have made EP the main union in the Coastal Sharks set-up.
15 Oct 2012, 17:08 pm
@RL-413:
you either know axactly what you’re doing which is sad or you don’t which is really sad
15 Oct 2012, 17:08 pm
@XhosaKid-437: @Transformation-433: check it, fresh into superrugby and you are here with your tendencies qha’ing this and qha’ing that
15 Oct 2012, 17:08 pm
Tacitus is talking straight k@k. Now the kings are actually part of the sharks all along and must enforce their contract with sharks and get back payments and interest like a damn child maintenance claim. What does that make the sharks? Dead beat dads? lol
15 Oct 2012, 17:09 pm
@rossoneri-442: you have no chance.
its our money find your own.
15 Oct 2012, 17:11 pm
@mamma_lou-444: Classic, the defense rests.
15 Oct 2012, 17:11 pm
@mamma_lou-444: I’m off to the gym – I will get my lawyer to release the evidence from the www.
15 Oct 2012, 17:12 pm
@rangerman-447:
thats what i’ve said all along
this whole thing is thesharks fault
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