Ex Sport 24
SARU once again committed themselves to accommodating the Southern Kings in Super Rugby from 2013. And let's face it is an
accommodation as the Kings will not be included on merit but rather at the expense of another, stronger franchise.
Said Jurie Roux, CEO of SARU on Friday: “We will now look at the options
to identify the other entrants to the competition, which will include further discussions with our SANZAR partners on the possibility of including a sixth South African team in the competition."
While SARU paid lip service to negotiating with its SANZAR partners for the inclusion of a sixth franchise
the chances of this succeeding are slim given the strained relationship between SARU and its partners, so the only other option will be to kick out one of the existing franchises. Make no mistake one of the franchise will have to disappear, whether by simply being kicked out or by merging with another franchise, that franchise will disappear from the rugby scene. BTW, this also means that,
should SARU go ahead with a six team Currie Cup Premier Division, that team will also have to be kicked out of the Currie Cup to make place for the EP Kings since they hijacked the Southern Kings.
A lot has been said about the Kings replacing either the Lions or the Cheetahs as these two sides haven't performed well in Super Rugby.
But kicking the Cheetahs out will be contrary to one of the main motivations for including the Kings - being a region without representation in Super Rugby -
so the only logical victim will be either the Lions or the Bulls as they are geographically, although not culturally, in the same region.
But how to decide?
Going on this year's Super Rugby results could very well mean that the Bulls will be the victims, should they finish below the Lions on the log. But this will mean that you kick out the most successful SA franchise over the last decade so that's not really an option.
Going on past results, and current financial woes, the Lions seem to be the "logical" choice but that would mean that, should they continue with their recent resurgence during this year's Super Rugby, their past successes and future prospects are to be ignored. So too will it be ignored that the Lions have been an important breeding ground of rugby players (another Kings' motivation) over the years and that they currently are the Currie Cup champions, the current u/19 Currie Cup Champions, winner of the North Section of the provincial amateur rugby competition, the current club finalists and champions (UJ and Pukke) and 2011 finalists in the Varsity Cup (UJ).
So what about having a promotion/relegation match?
I don't see this satisfying the Kings as there is no guarantee that they will win promotion (
unless they maybe get Bryce Lawrence to ref the match). In fact, they probably will lose as the
EP Kings couldn't even win the Currie Cup First Division and finished fifth in the South Section of the Vodacom Cup. ((Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha)
Futhermore, I do not see the team sponsors being satisfied with paying good money to sponsor a side that might or might not be in Super Rugby so financially it doesn't make sense either as it wouldn't provide the Kings with the funds to recruit the players they need to be competitive.
All I can say is that I see hard times for the Lions if this farce is allowed to continue. The Lions will probably disappear from the SA rugby scene to benefit an inferior union.
And once they are accommodated how will they become competitive?
The current crop of Eastern Cape players will not make the Kings a competitive side and the only solution I can see
is for SARU to convince or "force" the other unions to release some of players to the Kings. These players have to be either current first choice or bench players, or players nearing retirement but who are still active.
So in terms of the Kings "transformation" and "local" player goals they will probably demand the following players to be released to them:
(list not complete. I'm sure Cheeky Watson will find more players)
Lionel Mapoe (Lions)
Bandise Maku (Lions)
Elton Jantjies (Lions)
Michael Killian (Lions)
JC Janse van Rensburg (Lions)
Odwa Ndungane (Sharks)
Ryan Kanowski (Sharks)
Keegan Daniel (Sharks)
Tim Whitehead (Sharks)
Steven Sykes (Sharks)
Wandile Mjekevu (Sharks)
Akona Ndungane (Bulls)
Lionel Cronje (Bulls)
Dewald Potgieter (Bulls)
Jacques Potgieter (Bulls)
Bjorn Basson (Bulls)
Zane Kirchner (Bulls)
JJ Engelbrecht (Bulls)
Nic Groom (Stormers)
Gary van Aswegen (Stormers)
Siya Kolisi (Stormers)
Schalk Burger (Stormers)
Johan Goosen (Cheetahs)
Davon Raubenheimer (Cheetahs
Fat Chance the above players will go back to become Queens!!
Lets face it the only way the Queens can do it with any honour is to get their act together. It is no ones fault but their iown that their finances went to ruin through bad admin. They must pull themselves up step by step, Get into the Currie Cup and then win a relgation/ promotion battle.
Otherwise they will be forever know as the Southern Queens who sneaked in through the back door through ploitcal connections.
Lions and Cheetahs supporters should be raining the roof instead of writing thoughtless posts about the imminent demise of the Mighty Stormers.
