7 Responses to SA should look North – Edward Griffiths

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  1

  grootblousmile on 12 November 2011 at 11:59 am

  So he says “Kyk Noord, don’t flok voort!”
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  2

  grootblousmile on 12 November 2011 at 12:27 pm

  Makes a heap of sense looking to play North in and around the same time zones of South Africa.

  With the strong Euro and Pound it could be far more lucrative for SA Rugby as well (more than DOUBLE in fact), from both a revenue point of view as well as from a commercial sponsor input point of view.

  The only problem is that the Southern Hemisphere plays a harder and better type of rugby and it might cause SA Rugby to fall to standards below that of New Zealand and Australia.

  On the other hand, with more money available, there might be far enlarged capabilities to develop rugby at grass roots levels here in SA and this might radically enhance SA Rugby over time.

  Maybe the biggest drive must firstly be for ONE GLOBAL RUGBY SEASON, whereafter opportunities North should be explored.

  To my mind it would be great if SA could play in a Southern Hemisphere Competition one year and in the North every alternative year… which also opens the gap up to re-configure new Sponsorship deals, globally! If more money and resources is the object, then this is the formula!

  Playing Super Rugby every second year only might just take the staleness out of that competition as well… and might create a whole new appreciation in SA for Heineken Cup Rugby and global rugby, broadening spectator interest in those fixtures tremendously.
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  3

  grootblousmile on 12 November 2011 at 12:33 pm

  Cross Hemisphere Franchise rugby will also do a hell of a lot towards standardisation between referee interpretations up North and those here down South…. without doubt.

  It has been a bane and a curse that the differing interpretations of the North does not correspond to the interpretations down South.
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  4

  Loosehead on 12 November 2011 at 4:10 pm

  I am so bored with watching the S15 and the 3N.
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  5

  Rugbyprof on 12 November 2011 at 4:54 pm

  Only makes sense to look north. With all the South Africans in London (especially Wimbledonfontein), all the games played here would be home fixtures!
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  6

  Just For Kicks on 12 November 2011 at 8:18 pm

  I agree with Loosy, I am also a bit bored with the S15, perhaps it is because the comp is so big and so long now. What about splitting the teams, with some playing the S15, and some going north. So you have say a 2 tier system where maybe the top 3 play S15 and the other 3 go north. That way we get the best of both worlds, and can bring in the likes of EP. There could be some sort of local conference to decide which teams make the cut
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  7

  biltongbek on 14 November 2011 at 11:22 am

  Me thinks the answer lies north and south.

  Keep 5 franchises in the super xv, advocate next contract signing to reduce the teams to 4, but in the mean time, get the 3 other currie cup premier franchises to play in the north.

  That ay we expand our base of teams who can earn top money, bring in more money and can also develop the grass roots at 8 moeny making franchises.

  We need top players to compete with the south , but we can also use the heineken as a tool to have more teams compete at a higher professional level.