Sanjay's Rugby World

The Southern Kings missed out as the 15th side in the Super 15 when the competition expands in 2011.

SANZAR announced that Melbourne will be the 15th Super Rugby Team to join the competition in 2011.

An Expert Determination Panel consisting of former Rugby World Cup-winning captain David Kirk and retired New Zealand High Court Judge, the Hon Barry Paterson QC were used to determine the 15th side after no consensus was able to be formed.

South Africa were always going to be shafted, as New Zealand and Australia were never going to allow South Africa a 6th side.

Whilst the Southern Kings presented a more logical rugby proposal and infrastructure, the key reasons for the Experts selecting Melbourne over the Southern Kings were:

• Melbourne has the benefit in geographical location and commercial value to SANZAR

• The 15th Super Rugby team will play in the Australian Conference and travel costs would be lower for a local side.

• To ensure the local derby aspect of matches in Australia

• The Melbourne Application provided considerably greater commercial benefit to SANZAR than the Southern Kings Application

President of the South African Rugby Union (SARU) said “The decision to award the Vodacom Super Rugby expansion franchise to Melbourne had only strengthened the resolve of the South African Rugby Union to see the Southern Kings included in the competition.”

“We are extremely disappointed that the Southern Kings were unsuccessful but this process has proved that the region is ready for a franchise and that it could be up and running from an operational point of view in a very short space of time.”

If SARU were serious about the Southern Kings, then it is time to stop playing lip service and produce some action. South Africa may have enough talent and resources for 6 Super rugby sides, but before that ever happens, the Kings deserve to be given a go as one of the 5 current sides.

It is time to stop saying that the only way the Kings can be found a spot is as the 6th side. Boot one of the Cheetahs or the Lions out of the competition as they are embarassing to South Africa and have been unable to produce results. Better still merge them back into the Cats again.

The Southern Kings deserve the chance to play Super rugby if SARU is truly comitted to rugby in the Eastern Cape and transformation. Once again I fear that all we have is more lip service, and the likelihood of seeing the Kings on the playing field in the near future is highly unlikely.

After two contrasting games against the Coastal teams, the Sharks and Western Province, the British and Irish Lions rolled into Port Elizabeth, to take on the Southern Kings as they launched their new franchise.

The Lions were coming off two wins, and the results were probably expected to be the other way around. The Game with the Sharks was a blowout, and the game with Western Province was close. Based on Super 14 form, i’d have expected it to be reversed, but it was also due to coach Ian McGeechan putting his near test side out against the Sharks, and playing a virtual mid-week side against Western Province.

So to the new Nelson Mandela stadium in Port Elizabeth. A great day for rugby in the Eastern Cape. Who cares that most of the players are ring ins from other areas around South Africa, or overseas. This was a day to celebrate Easter Cape rugby. The new Nelson Mandela stadium looked absolutely magnificent, although the surface needs a bit more work. It’s normal for a new surface to experience some teething problems and need time to bring it up to international standard.

THE NELSON MANDELA STADIUM

 
The match itself was played with great intensity, even though it was a virtual Lions “B” team. Derick Kuun led the Kings well and there were some stand out players.

Marco Wentzel and Ross Skeate showed they are quality locks and could make a great impact on provincial rugby in South Africa.

The 2 flanks, Solly Tybilika and Mpho Mbiyozo were a great flank combination and I was pleased to see quality black players given an opportunity and shining. It’s a tragedy Tybilika has had to go through what he has. He may not be Bok standard, but he is definitely a top provincial player and should be in the starting lineup of one of our top sides. Mbiyozo on the other hand is all class and showed why he is a seven’s Bok. I’d love to see him pay Super 14 next year, as he is all class and could be knocking on the door of the Boks before too long. He has all the skills and a fantastic work rate. He’s also a great role model and a truly humble man. 

Darron Nell was strong from the base of the scrum and is a player to watch in the future.

Francois Hougaard at scrumhalf had a strong game before limping off injured. The Bulls are certainly blessed at scrumhalf, and he may not get a lot of game time there, so don’t be surprised to see him move provinces.

Jaco van der Westhuyzen has always been a prodigious talent and controlled the game well. Sure he made mistakes, but he does some things so well, and is so versatile too. It’s a pity he now plays in Japan.

It was great to see local boy Tiger Mangweni playing, and he is such a solid player. I thought he linked well, and did everything expected of him.

Not one of the Kings has a bad game, and the passion and intensity they played with was awesome. The local support was great, with a crowd of about 35000, and it shows we simply have to have a Super rugby team from the Eastern Cape. It’s a pity the result didn’t go our way, but the ref, Nigel Owens, was as biased as i’ve seen. I don’t think he deliberately meant to be, or I hope he didn’t but it doesn’t excuse the fact. He was very one-sided in his policing of the breakdowns, and the Lions were hanging around offside all day which made it hard for the Southern Kings to build momentum and get over the advantage line. The yellow cards were extremely harsh, and the penalty try he awarded the Lions in the second half was a joke. The ball was out, and at best it was a penalty, but i’d even debate that. In the end the result was really secondary to the occasion however, as the Southern Kings launched, and the Lions build up to the first test with the Springboks. Check out the highlights below…

The Lions now move to Durban for the first test, and the Southern Kings go… where??? There is nothing else on for the Kings. No competitions to play in, no team to speak of, nothing to build upon…it’s a tragedy. The Kings have been a political showpiece used by SARU to gain Government support and appear as if they are doing something. Why do we have to put up with the Stormers/Western Province, the Golden Lions and the Cheaters embarrassing South Africa with their rugby teams. Give the Kings a chance to show what they can do They deserve it, and the passion of the Eastern Cape will be enough for them to make us all proud…