Do the Kings deserve to supplant either the Cheetahs or Lions?

The Cheetahs with their gutsy away performances have already put down an emotional marker. And the Lions likewise have been playing with passion. Neither of these teams deserve to be ejected based on the murky proceedings of some committee room. This is not the way it's done, the promoted team has to have made a similar case in the minds of fans, by winning something!

The ideal way, given there is no junior Super 15 league to promote a team from, is to use the Currie Cup. Promote the Currie Cup winner. Or at a minimum, require the promoted team to finish above the demoted team in the CC. Yes I know the demarkations aren't the same, but some rules could be worked out. Face it if the Kings can't defeat the reduced CC Cheetahs, they shouldn't be playing S15.

And what if the loser is the Lions. Is it really acceptable to have the largest city in the land unrepresented in the S15. How will that work out with ad revenue? Dumb and dumber.

Most Kings supporters harp on about losing, but the fact is that both the Lions and the Cheetahs have been very competitive throughout their separation from each other. Can the Kings defeat the Crusaders in New Zealand? The Lions did, and are the only SA side to do so. The Cheetahs as well have knocked over some big names. The Cheetahs were the third top try scoring team last year. I dare the Kings to come in and match that. We all know they cant.

I agree Moz the queens will only have  acase if they can bea ta full strength Super 15 side in a currie cup match. They have t oshow they can play.

As I said Griquas are more deserving than them by FAR!.A Vodacom cup side demanding to play super rugby. Madness. ou cheeky is using his polictical connections to get this. disgusting really.

Agree this whole thing is a farce but allow me to play the devils advocate here. Remember back in the 80's when the Currie Cup was the be all and end all of rugby for us. Natal was stuck in trhe B section and couldnt win promotion/relegation games. They were then pushed into the A section, secured decent sponsors and players and won the CC a few years later. Could the powers that be not use the same argument for the Kings?

No they can't, because this is a political experiment. Furthermore, what real development is being done in the region? The big argument is that that region is the "cradle of South African rugby". Yet what will they first do to any side booted out? Raid them! Therefore completely negating the very reason that they are supposed to be there in the first place. It will be another poorly run rabble with lots of strife off the field. I'm sure AUS and NZ are relishing that! And the end result is that they will never perform better than either the Lions or the Cheetahs.

Lets suppose it's the Lions who drop out, with all the negative financial consequences. Aristo is right, the Lions would then break up in effect, with their best players lured elsewhere. How do they ever reconstitute themselves? And what are the rules for readmission? If a South African side is relegated every year we will function at a huge disadvantage to our Oz/Nz competitors with more disruption. If there is no chance for the Lions to come back, on the other hand, rugby in Gauteng is dealt a severe and permanent blow.

Fans deserve better than this opaque system.

Welcome to the new South Africa, simply meander like a clumpy caveman destroying every established thing in sight on a quest to fulfil shallow and dead-end ambitions. Both the Lions and the Cheetahs are very important for South African rugby, the Kings are not. If the issue is forced then I would love nothing more than for our five unions to pull out of Super rugby utterly humiliating and crippling SARU. What could be more satisfying then that? They can then have their beloved Kings in a super 11 and the Politicos can ponder the fruitfulness of their actions (every mistake they make is supposedly a positive move forward and or other similar rhetoric).