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An elephant in the room

The performances by the Bulls, the Sharks and the Stormers during the weekend confirmed the speculation in the media that there is optimism for a new dawn in Springbok-rugby, but unfortunately, there is an elephant in the room as the South African franchises threaten to boycott the 2013 Super Rugby season if any of the current five teams are excluded from the competition to accommodate the Southern Kings in the competition.

According to Rapport , the Stormers, Bulls, Lions, Cheetahs and Sharks sent a letter of their demands to the SA Rugby Union (SARU) after SARU's 14 unions unanimously voted in favour of including the Eastern Cape team - consisting of the Eastern Province, Border and South Western Districts in the 2013 season.

The Sunday newspaper reported that SARU president Oregan Hoskins reacted with shock when he got the letter that said that they threatened to boycott the 2013 super rugby season should any one of the “big five” teams be excluded from that season.

He told the newspaper that the five franchises demanded that unless SANZAR (South Africa, New Zealand and Australia Rugby) expanded the competition to 16 teams to accommodate six South African teams they would not participate in next year's competition.

Hoskins said he would send the letter to the other nine unions and it "will be in the hands of all unions to decided which teams will play in the Super Rugby series".

South Africa, however, have a challenge on their hands as the current broadcast deal, which allows for only 15 teams in the competition. This will be renegotiated only in 2016, according to www.rugby365.com.

SANZAR CEO Greg Peters poured cold water on SARU's ambitions of six SA teams, and ruled out the possibility of expansion, reported Sapa.

Several questions are left unanswered

First of all, why did the leadership of the five franchises unanimously accepted the entry of the Kings in the Super Rugby competition for 2013, only to threaten with a boycott a few weeks later?

Secondly, why did SARU not probe SANZAR about the possibility and the realistic chance of an expansion of the Super Rugby competition after the completion of the Super Rugby season midway through 2011?

Why did SARU and the different franchises not discuss and unanimously accept the process by which the five teams would be determined if expansion plans to sixteen teams were not acceptable to their SANZAR-partners?

And, why was that discussion by the five franchises with SARU not concluded before a decision was taken to include the Southern Kings?

Mark Keohane, veteran rugby commentator, severely criticized Oregan Hoskins and SARU for their lack of decisive leadership in a column on www.keo.co.za. Says Keohane: “Once again the tail is wagging the dog. Once again SARU’s leadership is being shown as pathetic and without bite.”

“Oregan Hoskins ... needs to stand tall and dismiss the threats of the five South African regions. He won’t and the regions will continue to hold the national governing body to ransom, when it should be the other way around.” says www.keo.co.za

Dan Retief, a former Sunday Times sports editor, asked in the Sunday Times why SARU is only now seeking a solution to a predicament that has been around since 2005 when the Southern Spears came into being on the back of big promises.

From a pure rugby and commercial point of view, the decision to include the Southern Kings, is a poor one. Retief argues that apart from an ill-conceived project at Bushman’s Sand in Alicedale, no proper academies have been established in places such as New Brighton and Mdantsane.

The three unions have been paralyzed by bad management and in-fighting and furthermore, the Southern Kings failed in their promotion attempts to gain access to the Premier division of the Currie Cup.They were also outplayed in the final of the First Division against the Boland Cavaliers.

Four of the five South African franchises who form part of the Super Rugby competitions, were semi-finalists in the 2011 Currie Cup-competition. The fifth, the Bulls, won the Super14-competition in 2007 as well as in 2009 and 2010.

All these teams are South African powerhouses, and the Southern Kings is not comparable in terms of pure rugby strength. So the decision to include them in the Super Rugby competition without counting the costs of such a decision and without contemplating the damning impact of the decision on the franchise that will lose out, smacks of short sightedness to put it mildly.

It is yet to be determined what the impact of the newest round of in-fighting will have on the Springboks and on the Super Rugby competition this year.

Player talent

South Africa is blessed with a number of very talented number-10’s in Johan Goosen, Patrick Lambie, Elton Jantjies and MornéSteyn, while there is enough good performing locks to suggest we will be able to replace the legendary Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha and the extremely athletic Danie Rossouw.

In the midfield, there were promising signs the past weekend with superb performances by Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana, JP Pietersen and the talented young Bulls duo of Francois Venter and Johann Sadie.

The Bulls, the Sharks and the Stormers showed early promise before the start of the Super Rugby season. The Bulls mesmerized the Cheetahs on Saturday by strolling to an emphatic 39-16 win.

The Sharks were superb in beating the Cavaliers by 62-0, while the Stormers managed a 38-13 win against the Kings.

They weren’t that convincing in the scrums, but De Villiers and Habana caused havoc in the midfield.

It is clear that the new coach, Meyer, will be spoiled for choice when selecting his top-thirty players for training camps in May. But with the South African administration in turmoil and in-fighting the order of the day, one has to ask if this won’t adversely impact on his grandest attempts to secure the support of the franchises for the national cause?

Fanie Heyns

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