Kings to embarrass Sa Rugby?
October 24, 2012 in Uncategorized
How the Kings will fare in next year Super Rugby really intrigue me.
When the Kings got their SR spot most of the Kings supporters and their president Mr Watson all said the same thing: The Kings of the 1st div will be a vastly different team from the one to eventually take part in the S15.
With the end of the season nearing and most players already signing new contracts time is surely running out for the Kings.
They tried to expand their allowed 2 foreign players to 6 but SARU immediately stopped that idea. And if memory serves me correct the Kings already have 2 foreign players signed who was playing for them in the 1st div. So there is no room for expansion.
They have made 3 new signings:
Steven Sykes: A good player and solid lock. Have been injured a lot recently but still a good signing.
Andries Strauss: Bit of a journeyman but also a good solid player but nothing overly special.
Demetri Catrakillis: A youngster with a very good boot. Still lacks a bit of attacking ability but is still young.
The problem is if any if these three moved to one of the other unions you would probably say they will be very good back-up but not necessarily 1st choice players.
Thing is there has been no other “big name” signing to date. And with time running out one wonders how many signings the Kings can achieve before next season.
One thing is for sure if the Kings try to play Super Rugby with their current squad they will deff be an embarrassment to Sa Rugby. The Cheetahs smashed them in Bloem and this was by no means a full strength Cheetahs team. (who got smashed by WP the previous week).
I know the Kings were also not without injury and most notably their 3 million rand man was not there. But as I said neither was the Cheetahs and with the long nature of the S15 there will be a lot of injuries next season as well. Deff more than they had in 1st div rugby this season.
By no means I am trying to diss the Kings or blame them for the situation. As previously discussed SARU really messed up with this one.
But still one do not want to see them playing some Nz side in Nz and get thrashed by +100 points that will not be good for SA rugby or the Kings.
I really do hope they somehow get another 10-15 above average players signed before next season.
Cheers
Anonymous said on October 24, 2012
General, Lets give them a fair chance in Superrugby before we start with the critics. The Lions and Freestate been just as dissapointed in Super Rugby. I remember the Bulls loosing all there 11 games in The Super Rugby, and yet they managed to turn things around and won 3 Super rugby crowns. I believe the EP Kings should be given a fair enough chance to develop rugby in the EP..Just look at the talent leaving the EP because of finacial constraints. Ja I feel for the Lions but they did not prove themeselve for the past 7 seasons in Super Rugby.To prove my point
Here are the Stats for the Lions from 2005-2012.
Season Pos Pld W D L F A +/- BP Pts
2005 11th 11 1 1 9 226 326 −100 7 13
2006 13th 13 2 1 10 220 405 −185 5 15
2007 12th 13 5 0 8 175 284 −109 2 22
2008 14th 13 2 1 10 206 367 −161 2 12
2009 12th 13 4 0 9 294 419 −125 9 25
2010 14th 13 0 0 13 270 585 −315 5 5
2011 14th 16 3 1 12 351 477 −126 7 29
2012 15th 16 3 0 13 317 460 −143 5 25
Does not make good reading. So please just give the Kings a fair enough chance..
Yes we must argue that the Kings do not deserve to be in SR but I am just as ashamed of the Lions performances the past 7 years. Hulle was sommer op elke hoek en draai Gemoer.. So laat ons darem nou n ander team kans om ok gemoer te word, en hou vingers wys.. Ja Ek Sal die EP Kings Support nes ek die Lions en Cheethas, Bulls , Sharks en my Team Stormers support het.
GEN DE LA REY said on October 24, 2012
I agree the Kings need a fair chance thing is I do not think this is what they will be getting.
They deff do not have a team atm to compete and I do not know if they will be able to assemble one in such a short space of time.
They are only guaranteed a spot for one season.
kedafie said on October 24, 2012
General, Lets give them a fair chance in Superrugby before we start with the critics. The Lions and Freestate been just as dissapointed in Super Rugby. I remember the Bulls loosing all there 11 games in The Super Rugby, and yet they managed to turn things around and won 3 Super rugby crowns. I believe the EP Kings should be given a fair enough chance to develop rugby in the EP..Just look at the talent leaving the EP because of finacial constraints. Ja I feel for the Lions but they did not prove themeselve for the past 7 seasons in Super Rugby.To prove my point
Here are the Stats for the Lions from 2005-2012.
Season Pos Pld W D L F A +/- BP Pts
2005 11th 11 1 1 9 226 326 −100 7 13
2006 13th 13 2 1 10 220 405 −185 5 15
2007 12th 13 5 0 8 175 284 −109 2 22
2008 14th 13 2 1 10 206 367 −161 2 12
2009 12th 13 4 0 9 294 419 −125 9 25
2010 14th 13 0 0 13 270 585 −315 5 5
2011 14th 16 3 1 12 351 477 −126 7 29
2012 15th 16 3 0 13 317 460 −143 5 25
Does not make good reading. So please just give the Kings a fair enough chance..
Yes we must argue that the Kings do not deserve to be in SR but I am just as ashamed of the Lions performances the past 7 years. Hulle was sommer op elke hoek en draai verslaan. So laat ons darem nou n ander team kans om ok geslaan te word.Ek Sal die EP Kings Support nes ek die Lions en Cheethas, Bulls , Sharks en my Team Stormers support het.
GEN DE LA REY said on October 24, 2012
Same as above
Peter said on October 24, 2012
In fact your comparison is slightly flawed. In 1993 when Super Rugby was conceived, in Super 10 format, the Lions won the tournament, undefeated.
1993 Lions won, other SA teams were Natal, and N.Tvl
1994 Natal lost to Queensland, EP and the Lions were the other SA teams, with EP losing all their matches.
1994 Tvl lost t Queensland, other SA teams were WP and Free State. Free State won 3/4 matches.
Then in the Super 12, the results were also not bad for the Cheetahs and Lions iniatially, it’s when SARU once again meddled that the Cats abonimation was formed!
1996 Lions 10th out of 12
1997 Lions 5th and Cheetahs 7th
1998 Cats 12th
1999 Cats 11th
2000 Cats 4th
2001 Cats 3rd
2002 Cats 11th
2003 Cats 12th
2004 Cats 12th
Since the Cheetahs started competing as a sole franchise again, they have become better, with their biggest stumbling block being depth and money.
Cheetahs in Super 14 & Super 15
2006 Cheetahs 10th
2007 Cheetahs 11th
2008 Cheetahs 13th
2009 Cheetahs 14th
2010 Cheetahs 10th
2011 Cheetahs 11th out of 15 (1st year of Toyota Sponsorship)
2012 Cheetahs 10th out of 15
So even though the Lions did battle the last few years the Cheetahs have been doing better.
The point is, the Kings have little hope of even being remotely competitive!
Herman Steytler said on October 25, 2012
The cheetahs were very unlucky in quite a few games the last two years as well. Some because of refereeing mistajkes and others because they let the game slip and lost by one or two points. If the cheetahs can learn how to close out a match then they will be in the top half!! How many substantial leads have they blown the last two years?? i can think of quite a few!!
Plus it looks like they are starting to learn how to beat teams when they are overseas..
Meurant said on October 24, 2012
Just one word: Merit. I don’t care who plays as long as they are there on merit and not by political interference. Its not good for the team and not good for the game.
How do you keep a team’s confidence up when it’s one loss after another? How do you keep rugby fans interested? How do you keep good players in such an enviroment? Needless to say, there are always going to be weaker teams and stronger teams. What needs to be avoided is that gap between them doesn’t become a chasm.
Also needless to say is that, with a few exceptions (Crusaders), all teams’ performance in the competion flactuates from one year to another. The flactuation might not always be that great but it’s there nonetheless. At the moment I would say that the Kings will flactuate between the wooden spoon and the wooden spoon.
I suppose what I am trying to say is: Get the Kings on par with the rest. Then do the playoffs. One gets religated, another gets promoted. Fair is fair, and I stress fair. By the way have a look at the EPL, that how they work. And it works…
Well thats my two cents worth.