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Lions: “The reports of our death are greatly exaggerated”

April 15, 2013 in Uncategorized

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The media is full of hype about the Kings and their performances sowing the seeds of doubt in the minds of many people, including some Lions supporters, that the Lions will not be able to beat the Kings in the Wooden Spoon Knockouts.

I must be honest and admit that I was having some doubts myself. The Lions lost a number of players through transfers and retirements but they have some players out on loan to other franchises. The Lions have been playing against much lower level opposition over the last few months and then there is the issue of integrating their loan players back into the team before the knockouts.

One tends to forget, or ignore, the fact that the Lions preparation programme gets a lot more intense against better quality opposition in June and July in the run-up to the knockout matches when they play Samoa, the French Barbarians, Grenoble and Heineken Cup quarter finalists Montpellier as well as the Sharks and the Stormers, sans Springboks of course.

I then looked at the team the Lions can put together, barring injuries, and feel a lot more positive about the prospect of facing the Kings at the end of July. I looked at the players irrespective of current injuries, apart from Jaco Taute who we know will be out, as I don’t know when the injured players will be match fit again.

Lions players still available:

The Lions still have 11 players available from the match 22 that won the Currie Cup in 2011 and 12 players from the match 22 that played in their last Super Rugby match in 2012.

16 of the players in the match 22 for the 2012 Currie Cup semi final are still available.

In all 22 players who played Super Rugby or in the Currie Cup final or semi final are still available to play in the Knockouts, although the rumours are strong that JC Janse van Rensburg will be off to France soon especially now that he has once again been snubbed by Heyneke Meyer but until there’s something definite I’ll keep him in my squad.

Andries Coetzee, Anthony Volmink, Deon Helberg, JR Esterhuizen, Lionel Mapoe, Ruan Combrinck, Jaco Taute (injured), Dylan Des Fountain, Deon van Rensburg, Alwyn Hollenbach, Michael Bondesio, Ross Cronje, Warren Whiteley, Jaco Kriel, Derick Minnie, Franco van der Merwe, Hendrik Roodt, Callie Visagie, Martin Bezuidenhout, JC Janse van Rensburg, CJ van der Linde, Ruan Dreyer

Potential Golden Lions team for the knock outs:
(bold = players who have played some matches for the Lions in 2011 or 2012)

A potential match 22 for the knockouts contains only 7 players who didn’t play for the Lions in 2011 or 2012.

15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 Stokkies Hanekom, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Lionel Cronje, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Jaco Kriel, 6 Derick Minnie, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Hendrik Roodt, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg (captain).

Replacements: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Franco Mostert, 19 Willie Britz, 20 Guy Cronje, 21 Marnitz Boshoff, 22 Deon Helberg.

Additional players, including injured:

Jaco Taute – Fullback/Centre (injured)
Ruhan Nel – Fullback/Wing
Ruan Combrinck – Wing
JR Esterhuizen – Wing
Dylan des Fountain – Wing/Centre
Deon van Rensburg – Wing/Centre
Ross Cronje – Scrumhalf
Warwick Tecklenburg – Loose forward
JJ Breet – Lock
CJ van der Linde – Prop
Julian Redelinghuys – Prop
Francois du Toit – Hooker
Robbie Coetzee – Hooker

Can the Lions win the knockouts against the Kings?

Yes, but it will be a tough clash of two different styles of rugby. The Kings have focused on defence in Super Rugby, looking for try scoring opportunities from the breakdowns and on counter attack while the Lions will be playing an open attacking game, looking for quick ball and running in tries.

The Kings’ strength is that, through their defence, they can soak up pressure and hit back when their opponents relax and that has been one of the Lions’ weaknesses in the past – they tend to play for 60 minutes per match – and one which the Lions will not be able to afford in the knockouts.

All credit to the Kings for their wins against the Force and the Rebels and their draw against the Brumbies but the fact is, the Kings’ wins came against the two worst teams currently in Super Rugby and they were still outplayed for large parts of the games with their perseverence and defence helping them pull off these wins. While the Kings have exceeded most people’s expectations they are by no means a good Super Rugby side but they have shown that they can hit back if you slack off.

For the Lions to win they will have to be more balanced in their approach, prevent turnovers and breakaway tries and they will have to play for 80 minutes as the Kings have shown they are very fit and will plug away for the whole match. If the Lions defence is not on song they will give the Kings the opportunities they look for.

That said, the Lions have the players to pull off the wins in the two knockout games and I believe they will have the focus and motivation as well. If the Lions lose out in the knockouts they stand to lose many of the players whose contracts expire in 2013 and with that any hope of getting back into Super Rugby until SANZAR allows a sixth SA franchise, by which time they will start back where they were in 2010.

Unfortunately, by forcing knockout matches into a competition that wasn’t designed for it, SARU has allowed this to become a win-lose situation rather than a win-win. With so much staked on the games for both sides the clashes are going to be brutal do or die afairs with the only priority being to win. Entertaining? Only maybe.

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State of the Nation’s Rugby

March 17, 2013 in Uncategorized

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It is disturbing that only two of the South African franchises have improved in their performance over the last four weeks and that the two franchises that are the main repositories of Springbok rugby have regressed dramatically.

After last week’s euphoria because of the three nil drubbing of Kiwi sides by Saffer sides we were quickly brought back to earth this week when the Bulls and the Sharks were totally outplayed by their opposition. What is even more disturbing is that it was so easy to see it coming.

Both the Bulls and the Sharks were still unbeaten before the weekend but the signs of a fall were there for all to see. And even more disturbing was the ease with which the Chiefs, Crusaders and the Brumbies scored their tries once they were on attack, even against the Stormers the previous week.

So far only the Cheetahs and the Stormers have improved from week one.

Waratahs vs Cheetahs:

After a poor start against the Sharks and a worse start to their tour down under the Cheetahs upped their defence against the Highlanders and played a more balanced game against the Waratahs to win two in row on tour.

Where the Cheetahs forwards were the main force in their victory over the Clan with the backs merely playing a defensive role, against the Waratahs they brought in their backs a lot more on attack while maintaining their defence.

If the Cheetahs can maintain their new-found defence through the season they have a good chance of improving on their best results of the past.

Kings vs Chiefs:

They defend with heart but the Kings have one objective and that, notwithstanding a fortuitous win over a pathetic Force side, is to lose respectably and they’ve been helped in this by a dire Sharks performance and a Chiefs side that took a break after they had scored their bonus point try.

Unlike against the Cheetahs where the Chiefs knew that the Cheetahs can come back and punish them if they slack off, they knew the Kings are of no consequence and they could rest their players for the last 30 minutes.

No matter how popular it is in the media to write up the Kings “brave” performances all the Kings real hope for is not to lose too badly.

Crusaders vs Bulls:

The Bulls manage to scrape home wins against a stuttering Stormers side, a poor Force team and then away against an inexperienced Blues selection. The only real positive for the Bulls is that Morne Steyn has found his kicking boots again but even that couldn’t save the Bulls from a six tries to nil blitz by a rampant Crusaders, a Crusaders side that struggled to keep the ball in hand in the first half and that left a number of tries unscored.

With Dan Carter having one of his better performance in recent times the Crusaders exposed the soft under belly of the Bulls and the Bulls were fortunate that this game didn’t turn into a real rout.

But the game had its moment of comedy when Deon Stegmann had to be lead across the tryline by Chiliboy because he didn’t notice the gap as wide as a barn door that had opened up before him.

Sharks vs Brumbies:

After beating the Cheetahs and scraping wins against the Stormers and the Kings the Sharks’ dependence on their big ball carriers were exposed by a polished Brumbies side. Without the likes of Willem Alberts to carry the ball across the advantage line the Sharks struggle without front foot ball and the deficiencies of their 9-10-12 combination was there far all to see.

But the worst was to see their lethargic and almost disinterested display on defence and the ease with which the Brumbies broke their line to score their tries. In the move to score their third try the Brumbies #13 struggled to get the ball under control while Burden and Jordaan patiently waited before trying to tackle him. And what’s with the little kick pass by Jordaan to Kanko?

The Sharks have now managed to score three tries in four games (one in their last three) and look more and more like a toothless old dog.

SARU:

Meanwhile SARU’s monkeys in charge are maintaining their attitude of “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”.

Last week the media spin doctors explained to us that a non-South African African player isn’t really a foreign player when the Kings fielded Daniel Adongo, Nicolas Vergallo and Hadleigh Parkes while SARU looked on in silence.

This week the Kings went a step further and played Tomàs Leonardi, Daniel Adongo, Nicolas Vergallo and Hadleigh Parkes. I won’t be surprised if SARU continue to allow the Kings to flout the rules with impunity.

Note: According to Rugby 365:

SARU confirmed on Sunday that they have asked for an “explanation” as to why the Kings fielded an additional foreign player from outside the African continent.

“Media are advised that the selection of three overseas players by the Southern Kings in their match 22 against the Chiefs in Port Elizabeth on Friday [March 15] has been noted by SARU,” a brief statement said.

“SARU will be contacting the Kings for a report on the situation.”

Update: The Kings continue to ignore the two foreign player rule by including all four their non-African foreigners in their touring squad:

Andries Strauss, Bandise Maku, Cornell du Preez, Daniel Adongo, David Bulbring, Demetri Catrakilis, Elric van Vuuren, George Whitehead, Grant Kemp, Hadleigh Parkes, Jaco Engels, Jacques Engelbrecht, Johannes Franklin, Kevin Buys, Marcello Sampson, Nicolas Vergallo, Ronnie Cooke, Rynier Bernardo, Schalk Ferreira, Sergeal Petersen, Shaun Venter, Steven Sykes, Tomas Leonardi, Virgile Lacombe, Waylon Murray, Wimpie van there Walt.

Will the softcocks at SARU do something more than wring their hands?

Varsity Cup Shenanigans:

According to media reports Tuks have been rake over the coals for the second year running because they didn’t have enough bona fide students in their team and for the second year running they have come away with only a warning.

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How far will the Sharks win?

March 6, 2013 in Uncategorized

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The Sharks take on Super Rugby rookies, the Southern Kings, in PE on Saturday in the Kings first game against top ranked opponents and speculation in the social media has been rampant in recent months about how far the Kings would lose.

After putting in a creditable performance against the Force, where the Kings’ defence was superb, the wild speculation of 100+ margins have been tempered a bit and margin predictions tend to be in the 15 to 30 point range now.

One player who will impact on the Sharks winning margin (I am not even contemplating a loss) will be flyhalf Pat Lambie. Not only because he is the goal kicker, and he has been kicking well so far, but because it is largely up to him to distribute the possession the Sharks get and to manage the game plan for the Sharks.

People took exception when I said after the Sharks first game that he had a forgettable game against the Cheetahs so I won’t use that phrase again but has has been playing within himself the first two games.

He has had solid but unremarkable games so far and it is time for him to come out of the box that Heyneke Meyer put him in during the EOYT and to show the creativity and spark we know he has.

If he does the Sharks can score a runaway victory, if he doesn’t the victory will only be “respectable”.

And if this read as if I don’t rate the Kings, I don’t. And it has nothing to do with politics or being anti or anything like that, I just don’t believe they have enough quality players to realistically trouble the Sharks.

Note: I went with a 30 point win on my Superbru because I don’t think the Sharks will let it “all hang out”.

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Kings ashamed of ‘white’ squad?

February 26, 2013 in Uncategorized

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I try to write as little as possible about the Kings lest I be accused of bias but sometimes the facts just give the lie to reports that appear in the media. Once again Mr Watson is being creative with the truth. Elementary really, once the facts are uncovered.

According to Die Burger, Watson made the statement in parliament to members of the portfolio committee on sport and recreation, insisting several top black players decided to sign for other unions as they weren’t sure the Kings would play in the Southern Hemisphere’s premier competition.

Watson said the Kings were denied luring players such as Elton Jantjies (Stormers), Odwa Ndungane (Sharks), Lwazi Mvovo (Sharks), Lionel Mapoe (Bulls), Akona Ndungane (Bulls) and Siya Kolisi (Stormers) to Port Elizabeth.

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Super15/Kings-ashamed-of-white-squad-20130226

Elton Jantjies and Lionel Mapoe are still under contract with the Lions for this year so they were only available for a ONE year loan deal. Jantjies and his dad talked to all the unions, including the Kings, before deciding to sign with the Stormers. That decision was only made known at the end of October, months after the SARU decision. The Bulls signing of Mapoe was also only announced after the Currie Cup, months after the SARU decision.

It is well known that the Kings never approached the Lions for loan players until after they tried make as if the Lions refused them players when they tried to get SARU permission for extra foreigners. By that time the Lions players’ loan deals were already in place.

This statement might be true for Akona Ndungane, whose two year contact extension with the Bulls was only announced on 23 August but Siya Kolisi signed with WP in March 2012 already while Mvovo re-signed with the Sharks in January 2012.

Furthermore, in terms of SARU regulations, players under contract may not be approached by other unions without the permission of their home unions while players whose contracts are due to expire may only be approached within the last 120 days of their contracts, normal from July as the contracts normally expire at the end of October.

I’m not sure what the situation is with Odwa Ndungane’s contract with the Sharks but most of the players mentioned were not available to be “lured” earlier in in the year (2012), unless the Kings planned to flout SARU’s regulations and the SARPA agreements.

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The Lions vs Kings – What will the coaches do?

February 4, 2013 in Uncategorized

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The Lions take on the Southern Kings is a pre-season “friendly” practice match on Saturday. The match has been termed in some quarters as a “revenge” match and is eagerly anticipated by many South African rugby fans. For many Lions fans and the anti-Kings brigade a Lions win will reinforce the feeling that SARU’s decision to replace the Lions with the Kings in Super Rugby was a mistake.

With a few days left before the coaches name their squads for the match the question is really what the respective coaches want to achieve on the day.

For the Lions, I think, it is quite simple – they want to win and they want to win well. I expect Johan Ackermann to name his strongest available side irrespective of what team the Kings put on the field, especially as the Lions will have a month break before the Vodacom Cup competition starts in March.

The danger for the Lions is that overeagerness amongst the players may just lead to unnecessary mistakes and Ackers will have to reign in his players and ensure that they continue to play a structured game.

In the media, I see, Ackers and captain JC Janse van Renburg are trying to tone down the emotions by pointing out that this is just another game in the Lions preparation programme for the knockout matches in July. The Lions players would do well to take this to heart and not to get swept up by the emotions of the supporters. A free-for-all helter-skelter game may just back-fire on the day.

The Kings is caught between a hot rock and a hard place, a loss against a Lions team that lost most of its Super Rugby players of last year, especially if the Kings field a near full strength side, will not only increase the negative press but may also impact negatively on the players while a win against an under-strength Lions side would be seen as fairly meaningless although it will give them some hope.

Do the play their strongest available side, do they play their fringe players or do they play a somewhere inbetween side?

For the Kings this game is only about preparation for the Super Rugby and not about proving anything to anyone, their place in Super Rugby 2013 is secure. The Lions match this weekend and the match against Griquas next weekend are their last two preparation matches and I expect the Kings to split their squad into two equal sides, something of an inbetweener team for each match.

A number of ex-Lions could be facing their former team – Bandise Maku, Edgar Marutlulle, Kevin Buys, Ross Geldenhuys, David Bulbring and Demitri Catrakilis.

Match: 9 February @ 14:15 (Dstv on SHD & SS1)

Next Lions Challenge match: 16 March – Mont de Marsan (Ellis Park)

News on the USA leg: Todd Clever to lead All Stars against Lions

Commenting on the first leg of the tour, CEO and President of Rugby Operations at USA Rugby, Nigel Melville, welcomed the South Africans with open arms.

Rugby Canada’s General Manager Rugby Operations and Performance, Mike Chu, is also very excited for the Lions to arrive in Vancouver.

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The incompetence of SARU

January 29, 2013 in Uncategorized

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SARU, fronted by Oregan Hoskins and Jurie Roux, takes the brunt of the criticism but in the end the decisions are made by the administrators of South Africa’s 14 provincial unions. and with their ham-handed and soft-cocked handling of the Kings entry into Super Rugby SARU and South Africa’s provincial rugby administrators have created a toxic environment where two franchises, the Lions and the Kings, are on a hiding to nothing.

SARU, and SA’s provincial administrators, by springing the Kings’ inclusion in Super Rugby without a clear process of how it will be done, allowed for the the issue to drag on for seven months in the search for meaningless alternative solutions, solutions that were never going to be considered or put to a vote.

And in the end the Kings were left with insufficient time to put together a competitive squad while the Lions were summarily dumped without a safety net, financial or otherwise. The result is that the Kings, with only one year to prove themselves, have to take on the might of Southern Hemisphere rugby with a squad ill-suited for the task while the Lions were put back to pre-2010, losing more that 20 players who would have formed the backbone of their team in 2013, and are now forced into another rebuilding process.

Financially both franchises are sucking the hind tit too. While both the Lions and the Kings will receive their share of the Super Rugby TV monies the Kings can only promise potential sponsors a one year guarantee while the Lions sponsors are left with less than they bargained for and deals had to be renegotiated.

Looking to the future, with no guarantee of participating in Super Rugby in 2014 the Kings still cannot offer players more than partial contracts while the Lions cannot really start renegotiating contracts with current players until after the Wooden Spoon Knockout game in August with the result that 2014, for whichever team wins through, the situation will hardly be any better.

The Kings and the Lions administrators are not exempt of blame either.

The Kings have been receiving their share of the Super Rugby TV Pot o’ Gold since 2009 already. They could have prepared themselves better by at least getting into and becoming competitive in the Currie Cup Premier Division. There is really no excuse for them to have languished in the First Division.

The Lions, on the other hand, were naive, especially during the 2012 Super Rugby season. The goal should have been not to end last of the SA teams, simple as that. I said it in a previous post, the Lions tactics during the 2012 Super Rugby, where they ignored points on the board through penalties in order to try and score tries, were counter productive. Winning, even winning ugly, should have been their focus.

In the end South Africa’s provincial rugby administrators, including those of the Kings and the Lions must shoulder the blame for the vitriolic them vs us atmosphere that is currently prevalent amongst SA’s rugby supporters. Supporters are currently sharply divided into pro-Kings and anti-Kings camps and, going by the comments on various online sites and forums, there are very few taking the middle ground. This just cannot be good for SA rugby.

With the Super Rugby season at hand the Kings will be hard-pressed to win a few games and not to end last of the SA teams while the Lions, through the Wooden Spoon Knockouts Preparation Programme they put together without any assistance from SARU, will hope to rebuild a team that can at least get them back into Super Rugby in 2014, which they will have to take on, once again, with a young team of rookies.

South Africa’s rugby administrator really didn’t think this one through or, if they did, they didn’t really care what the implications were.

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The Pumas should move to Nelspruit

November 5, 2012 in Uncategorized

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The Ford “no beach only stinking coal mines” Pumas push the EP “Super Rugby Wannabies with Loads of Cash and A Beach” Kings close in the Currie Cup First Division this year. After 240 minutes of rugby only one point separated them and that point made the Kings champions.

In the meantime the Pumas found some cash to lure a number of new young players to the mine dumps of Witbank, which says a lot for their recruiting skills.

Ya Ya Hartzenberg (23) – flank (WP u/19, WP u/21, SA u/20, WP, Stormers)
Rosko Specman (23) – wing (EP u/19, Sharks u/21, Sharks XV, Sharks CC)
Stefan Watermeyer (24) – centre (Blue Bulls since u/16 and part time Griqua)
Wilmaure Louw (25) – centre (Griquas)
Frankie Herne (23) – hooker (Cheetahs and EP Kings)

I suggest that they seriously consider moving their headquarters to the beautiful Nelspruit, next to the Kruger National Park and a short drive from the beaches of Mozambique.

For your entertainment here’s Bob Dylan (although I don’t think he has ever been to Mozambique)

Bob Dylan – Mozambique

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by Baylion

What pisses me off about the Kings saga!

October 24, 2012 in Uncategorized

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You want to know what really pisses me off about the Lions being kicked out of Super Rugby to make way for the Kings? We all know that was a political decision and not a rugby decision and the Kings don’t really deserve to be in Super Rugby.

But no, that’s not what pisses me off.

What really pisses me off is that the Kings have been receiving their share of the Super Rugby monies since 2009 and they have done sweet blue f-all with it to prepare themselves for their entry into Super Rugby.

After the thumping they took from a second rate Cheetahs side they have the audacity to say “Don’t judge us”! But what have they done to build and develop a team that can at least compete with the worst South Africa Premier Division side?

Within the space of two months since they were kicked out of Super Rugby the Lions have put together a potential programme of about 15 matches against international club and country sides to keep their players in shape and to retain their younger players. Don’t tell me the Kings couldn’t have done the same in the last three years. But wait, no they refused the opportunity to play in the Nations Cup this year because it would be too tiring.

The Kings sat around on their collective asses and waited for handouts rather than work to prepare a side that other South Africans could feel reasonably comfortable in supporting. From comments of various web sites the biggest issue that piss people off is that they feel that the Kings got their chance under false pretenses. Instead of featuring a “transformed” side they whine about the fact that they cannot recruit more foreign players, that the Lions don’t want to lend them players, that they cannot sign other South African players because of contracts. They whinge that their youngsters are leaving because they don’t have Super Rugby.

Bullshit!

Siya Kolisi didn’t go to Cape Town to play Super Rugby, neither did Tim Whitehead, Tiger Bax and others, they went to play for a top level Varsity Cup side. The fact that they then made the WP junior sides and senior sides and the Super Rugby sides were just spin-offs.

These guys went because EP rugby was stuck in First Division rugby, not only with their senior side but also with their junior sides and they Varsity Cup side was a bottom feeder. The fact is, EP rugby was just not good enough for these guys.

But for three years they whined about getting into Super Rugby and now that they are in they whine that they weren’t given a fair deal. They had three years to prepare for this and they are bungling it big time.

And why are they bungling it? Because for three years they sat on their cheeks expecting things to be given to them.

And for this the Lions got kicked out?!

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The 2013 SR wooden spoon play-offs – the sh!t is going hit the fan

October 15, 2012 in Uncategorized

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Let’s forget about the decision to kick out the Lions and replace them with the Kings, that topic has been done to death already. Let’s also forget for a moment that the Kings are struggling to recruit players due to not only the late decision but also due to the fact that they are only guaranteed one year in Super Rugby. Let us also ignore whether the Kings may or may not be competitive in Super Rugby next year, time will tell.

Let’s look at the play-off scenario and the logistics of the play-off games

SARU’s decision to kick out the Lions includes the provision that the Lions will play a home and away knock-out series against the last placed South African team but none of the logistics and processes have been spelled out yet, no details have been revealed as yet, and the effect of these play-off matches hasn’t been discussed.

In recent weeks the Lions have lent some of their contracted players to other franchises (Franco van de Merwe – Sharks, Jaco Taute – Stormers, Elton Jantjies – Stormers, Callie Visagie – Bulls, as well as some other whose agreements haven’t been confirmed yet) on the proviso that they return to the Lions at least two weeks before the knock-out matches. These players loans are being don with the approval of SARU, if not explicitly then at least implicitly. Lions supporters in general are quite happy that we will at least have out players back for play-offs and the Currie Cup.

But how true is that? And when will these matches be played?

Let’s look at the facts:

  1. Super Rugby 2013 finishes on 3 August 2013 with the play-offs for the finals starting on 19 July 2013.
  2. The Rugby Championship will probably start on 17 August 2013, leaving a two week (one weekend) break after Super Rugby.
  3. In terms of IRB regulations clubs, unions and franchises must release players called up for national duty at least five days before any tests they are selected for during the four nations test window which will probably run from 17 August 2013 to 12 October 2013. Their Boks called up must be released on the 12th, a week after Super Rugby.
  4. The Currie Cup started on 10 August this year but that schedule is in the hands of SARU and can be adjusted. However, the Currie Cup this year finishes on 27 October 2012, two weeks before the first test of the EOYT to Europe.
  5. A number of Lions players’ contracts expire on 31 October 2013.
  6. The player transfer window is from August to October which means players looking to negotiate deals have only that period available to them and would rather finalise deals during the early part of that window.
  7. The Lions players’ loan agreements provide that they have to be released at least two weeks before the knock-out matches.

2013 rugby schedule

Given these facts the knockout matches must take place between 19 July 2013 and 31 October 2013 and the only free weekend in that time is on 10 August 2013, a week before the Rugby Championship starts. However the knockouts are supposed to be on a home and away basis,which requires two weekends.

So the break between Super Rugby and the Rugby Championship is just not suitable.

So how about after the Rugby Championship finishes early in October?

At that time the Currie Cup is in full swing and entering its final stages so unless there is a break scheduled into the Currie Cup schedule the knock out matches cannot be fit in during October. And if there is, the Currie Cup finals will clash with the EOYT schedule.

How about after October?

Firstly the EOYT will be in November leaving the play-offs to be played only in December and by that time a number of players’ contracts would have expired and they might have signed with new teams who need them for their Super Rugby preparations.

This leaves the only possible time for these knock-outs to be played is during the Super Rugby play-off and finals phase between 19 July and 3 August and that brings into question the player loan agreements.

How happy will the Stormers be to release Jantjies and Taute just as they enter into the knock-out phases of the Super Rugby competition, or any other franchise releasing players they obtained under similar agreements?

Or will the Lions, for the sake of goodwill, have to go into the wooden spoon play-offs without their top players even though the loan agreements provide for them to be released?

These loan agreements make sense from a Lions perspective as they keep their top players under contract for 2013 but in the end they may just cause more and unnecessary problems for the union as players like Taute, Jantjies and possibly Mapoe will not be available for the 2013 Currie Cup anyway due to Bok commitments anyway.

So my question to SARU is: When do you plan for these matches to be played? Will teams have to play the Super Rugby final stages without their loan players or will the Lions and their opponents be required to play these matches without their Springbok players, if they have any?

This is another case where something sounded good in the SARU boardroom but the consequences weren’t properly investigated or planned for.

I can only see sh!t coming.

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Friday Snippets

October 4, 2012 in Uncategorized

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It’s been a week of contracts canceled and contracts renewed, a week of confirmations and denials, a week of lies and lies exposed. It has been another week where SARU’s lack of leadership shone in its absence.

At the Boks:

Heyneke Meyer resisted the temptation to recall Morne Steyn after another woeful kicking display by the Bok goal kickers and pleased most by sticking with the same team for the All Blacks test.

Johan Goosen was declared fit to kick on Saturday and hopefully kicking is like riding a bicycle.

About the Currie Cup:

Amid new of players leaving, rumours of players leaving and Bok call ups the Lions continues to soldier on and still tops the log prompting one bordie on Planet Rugby Forum to ask: “WTF still motivates these guys?”

At the same time the Blue Bulls possible involvement in a promotion/relegation contest has been the talk of forums and blogs.

At the Lions:

A mixed week saw confirmation of players leaving and of players signing on with the union. Pat Cilliers and Michael Rhodes were released to move to the Stormers, a loan deal has been finalised for Franco van der Merwe with the Sharks and Jaco Taute, Elton Jantjies and Lionel Mapoe will be on loan but deals have not been finalised.

But at least the well isn’t running dry as yet and a number of players are sticking with the Lions through tough times.

Stalwart flanker Derick Minnie has extended his contract with the Lions through 2014 and according to player agent Eduard Kelder’s tweet so did youngster Andries Coetzee after turning down Super Rugby offers.

A number of promising youngsters has signed new contracts or renewed contracts with the Lions for 2013 and 2014.

Of liars and cheats:

This week it came out that the Kings never approached the Lions to borrow or buy any of their players and that one of the Foreign Kings excuses used in their application to SARU to sign on more foreigners, that the Lions refused to release players to them, turned out to be a lie. And Watson’s response when caught in the lie? “I heard it on the grapevine”.

And the announcement of the signing of three players by the Kings hardly hit the Net when WTF tweets suggested that two of the signings were hardly done deals.

The Sounds of Silence:

Through all the struggles of the Lions trying to keep players and to set up competitive matches for next year and the Kings trying to sign any players of note SARU has been conspicuous in its silence.

Seriously, this whole thing has disaster written all over it and maybe it’s time for SARU to admit they screwed up and turn back the clock. I’m sure it’s not too late to ask the Lions if they will play Super Rugby next year.