Super 15 - Kings' inclusion leaves SA team facing axe
One of South Africa's existing teams in the Super Rugby competition face the axe after the Southern Kings secured a place in the tournament from 2013.
The inclusion of Kings, who hail from Eastern Cape - the hotbed of black rugby, has left the Stormers, Sharks, Bulls, Cheetahs and Lions facing an uncertain future.
One of the five teams will be out of the lucrative tournament unless Saru can convince Sanzar (South Africa-New Zealand-Australia rugby) to allow a sixth South African team to play in the competition.
"The Kings' place in the Super Rugby competition in 2013 was confirmed by the general council, who gave it 100 percent support," Saru chief executive Jurie Roux told a news conference on Friday.
"A final decision on the fate of the other five franchises will be made at a special general meeting on March 30 after the council has considered recommendations by the unions. There are a number of options, including asking Sanzar to include a sixth South African team."
The Southern Kings inclusion in Super Rugby has been backed by politicians and those unhappy with the pace of transformation in South African rugby.
None of their constituent teams - Eastern Province, South-Western Districts and Border - play in the premier division of South Africa's domestic Currie Cup competition.
Eastern Province were beaten 43-12 by Boland in last year's First Division final.
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Sorry Sean,
Short term sightness here.
By adding another team to the South African section of the Super 15 will dilute the strength of the top teams with players transferring (naturally and financially driven) to teams with a less viable chance of winning the Super 15 ie:- Lions and Cheetahs.
The Lions and Cheetahs are known as easy beats already and removing key players from the Stormers, Bulls and Sharks to form The Kings will decreae their chances.
From a National point of view, combinations and regular game time together (Currie Cup, Super 15) before playing under one jersey pays dividends. Hence why alot of International coaches select Half and 10 together, Wing and Fullback etc
I see your point with financial gains, but not sure I agree with spending power equal to or greater than combined efforts of New Zealand AND Australia. A level field indication would be ticket prices on par, and I know tickets are alot cheaper in SA-On a level monetary value to salary availabilty.
Final point, why should SA have 6 teams to Australia's 5 and New Zealand's 5. New Zealand-the most succesfull nation in Super 10,12,14 and 15 competitions could EASILY field another team perhaps the answer is more like what it use to be with the top 4 of the each national competition competing in the SUPER RUGBY comp the following year?
Its a real shame to not see the wealth of Super Rugby spread to teams who feed the Super Rugby squads.
Finaly thought..How far away are we from a global club competition?
Food for thought...
Makes commercial sense to expand the tournament with a sixth South African team. South Africa are the financial powerhouse of southern hemisphere rugby as they have more spending supporters than Australia and New Zealand put together. (Across the world, only England supporters are more financially lucrative). Sure, it's politically motivated to include a team from the heartland of South Africa's black rugby supporters, but economics will dictate that they will be an additional team, and not at the expense of one of the other teams.
Sorry but I say NO to a 6th South African team. The numbers are evenly spread across the Nations already.
Clearly this is a politically motivated move to have the Kings installed at the expense of one of the traditional strong existing teams.
The think the Stormers, Bulls, Sharks, Cheetahs or possibly the Lions (ok have struggled last few years but as a NZ supporter I remember the glory days of Transvaal) is madness.
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