As the Lions lurch from one defeat to another, I must admit to being baffled at the outpouring of sympathy for them the more it looks like they are headed for relegation at the end of the Super Rugby season.
This was an article in the Times, on Sunday.
Former Springbok coach Jake White was at the front of the queue, saying it would be a massive injustice if a team with the Lions’ history was no longer part of the tournament.
From the other end of the “save the Lions” bandwagon, many reckon the Southern Kings don’t deserve to be playing Super rugby next year.
There are problems with both of those statements.
The Brumbies coach is basically suggesting that the Lions should be given a break simply because they’ve been around forever, as opposed to their achievements over that time.
For years the Lions have been a pitiful excuse of a rugby team in Super rugby. So atrocious have they been that one could be justified in cynically suggesting that their being allowed to carry on one embarrassing year after another meant they had no incentive to get their house in order. That’s a case of being entitled, not deserving.
There’s nothing wrong with a conference having a crap team, it can happen to anyone. But when the same team ends up being that crap team repeatedly something is very wrong.
There are mitigating circumstances as to why the Lions aren’t playing well, namely injuries and a lack of depth.
But surely the administrators should have known the day they won the Currie Cup last year that their squad wouldn’t stand up to the rigours of Super rugby. Instead, they bought a host of Vodacom Cup-level players to “bolster” their squad. If turning down Robert Gumede’s millions was the main reason for that lack of activity in the market, then the answer is quite simple.
If they can’t buy players good enough for Super rugby, maybe they should be mucking around at lower levels until they can.
Also, it’s not like the Gauteng region loses much if the Lions go out of commission for a couple of years. The Bulls, who are just 60km up the road, will carry on the good fight.
The Eastern Cape, on the other hand, is a vast area with no meaningful rugby, which is hardly fair.
And to those claiming the Kings don’t deserve to play Super rugby because they lack the performance for it, seriously?
They might have done little to suggest they are going to win the Currie Cup, let alone Super rugby, but the least they should be given is a fair opportunity to be every bit as kak as the Lions have been over the last decade.
And if they sit with a one and seven record this time next year, they, too, should be expecting relegation come the end of the season.
I was always supportive towards my neighbors, the Lions, but what this article says sort of openes my eyes. If it was something that came out of the blue I would have had sympathy, but dammit the announcement that the Southern Kings will be part of the Super Rgby competition in 2013 came a few years back.
I have to disgaree with this Superbul. Let me state up front that this matter has been handled worse than the e-tolling saga.
In pure sporting terms, dropping the Lions for the Kings makes no sense. In most league type competitions I know of, the worst performing team in a league is replaced by the best performing team in the league immediately below. In this case the Kings cannot even win the B section of the Currie Cup, or even the Vodacom Cup. Other scenarios include promotion/relegation play offs, with best performing team retaining or losing their place. In both scenarios, the team being promoted deserves their place. However, the Kings have not even been able to win the Vodacom Cup, or B section of the Currie Cup, so how are we as the rugby supporting public supposed to countenance a non sporting court won promotion to the toughest provincial rugby competition in the world? In a fair world, the team that should be challenging the Lions for a place in Super Rugby is Griqualand West. They have consistently been a tough team to beat irrespective of who they play. Yet an underperforming, politically connected team will be given a hand up to Super Rugby, even though they cannot win there lower league. This whole thing sucks. Can you imagine any soccer team being booted out of the English Premiership and being replaced by a 3rd division 4th placed team?
PE cannot even fill a stadium for international tour games, so how can they expect to sustain a Super Rugby team. As the Kings receive record hiding after record hiding, those fans will quickly get gatvol of that and the new Nelson Mandela Metro Stadium will only attract a few die hard supporters. That is the reality of the Kings, as they will not be able to attract and retain major sponsors, once the initial glow has worn off.
@ Lion4ever:
But the under performing of the Lions is giving fuel and rope to the Eastern Cape. The Coke tin is also struggling to attract spectators. Winning the Currie cup in the year that the World cup was all that really mattered was maybe not such a good thing for the Lions. Yes many will bite my head off for saying this but that covered a lot of the flaws in the Lions Union.
I know that PE will not be filled at first and especially if they are losing by big margins. But the Eastern Cape might just be the best thing for the Bullls and the Cheetahs, more games at sea level and harder to acclimatise in the High-veld.
One thing must be remembered , they will have a 2 year stint at Super level to start off. Well they were guaranteed 2 years back in 2009, so they will have a second bite. If they achieve 1 win in their first year they will feel they have done something right.
@ superBul:
They will initially get some good attendances, and then they will drastically drop off. Those PE fans are very unforgiving. The Lions have been terrible in terms of administration, but KDK and co are working hard at sorting this out, but it is taking longer than we would like. Even the Rebels have not performed well in 2 years, and the Force marginally better.
The CC victory was a shot in the arm, but all the injuries, and the uncertainty surrounding the future have negated that victory, along with the poor performances so far this year.
But to just, at the stroke of a pen relegate a team is a terrible injustice, be it the Lions or Stormers or whoever.
@ Lion4ever:
Look i think many thought the Bulls would be in jeopardy after all their retirements and players leaving. Imagine the outcry if we were the last team in SA. I know at least we would have had something tangible to bring to our debate. 3 titles in 5 years , sure no one would dare to relegate us.
But the Lions look ugly in the rankings last 10 years
Last = 5 times
2nd last = 4 times
http://www.lassen.co.nz/s14det.php?teamnum=12#rank
Simnikiwe is from Dale College in the Eastern Cape is flying a kite here.
The financial carnage accepting a new team in at the expense of another in 2013, without any thought for promotion or relegation or plans for the 6th franchise will cause some R30m financial damage in 2013 with a further R30m damages in 2014 & 2015.
Most importantly, if the Kings – and they have billed themselves as the EP Kings and the Southern Kings – do get a hiding to nothing – it will entrench perceptions of the inferior rugby skills of blacks from the Eastern Cape – without there being a true number of people of colour – representative of the area.
The same can be said of the coaching hierarchy from Director of Rugny – Alan Solomons to Kiwi Sexton – tapped to be the Coach and Robbie Kempson – Director of the Academy.
The Kings (EP & Southern) were tasked in 2010 & agreed to two essential requirements, to graduate through to the ABSA Currie Cup and to attend to transformation inequalities. Neither of which have been accomplished.
So the announcement of an all white coaching staff, bar one fly on the glass of milk, as preparation for 2013, can put in jeopardy a coherent integration of elite players at all age groups and professional levels and set back SA Rugby 5 years.
Already SARU “surrendered” R125,000,000-00 in revenues to be split between our arch rivals Australia & New Zealand and then were coerced into accepting a 5-a-side Super Rugby tournament when South Africa has more rugby players than twice the combined players in Australia & New Zealand.
This jamboree is far from over and looks like it will not have a happy ending.
The Lions are the only other SA franchise whom have won a SupeRugby title even if it was the S10 some years back.
Being 2nd in a competition only means you are the first loser !!!
I have no problem with he Kings earning their place in the SA conference, but then they must do so by exactly that…EARNING their place in the competition.
Let them play 2 relegation games, one home and one away. The winners of those games gets the spot. FINISH & KLAAR !!!
To kill the one franchise to build another is plain stupid…
And to add to that , I have seen no prove that the KINGS will do any better than the Lions are doing at present, they are struggling to win their games in the local competition at present…
@ TonyM:
Exactly !!!
I would love to see whom the players will be when they take the field for their 1st SupeRugby game…
@ Blouste:
The thing is that the EP/Southern/Kings participation in Super Rugby in 2013 has not been confirmed – SARU are still trying to “shop” a Super 16 and are looking like idiots as what part of Super 15 do they not understand?
It is not an anti-Kings thing, the reality is that SA does not possess enough rugby talent to fill 5 competitive teams.
If the Kings [or Griqua’s or Stellaland for that matter] enter S15 next year who will be playing for them?
If they play with the bunch that they have right now, then they will be snot klapped every game. If they buy the Lions team, then they will get less of a snot klap. Buying a team in from the expats in Europe kind of defeats the object.
The way forward is for the EP union to contract all their classy youngsters and develop them into the team that we have been told that they can produce.
9@ Loosehead:Agree, the whole idea of the Kings was to expose the Eastern Cape talent, so to bring in outsiders isn’t the way in my book. To use the excuse that they need experience doesn’t wash either for me, they have had enough time to bring players through, over the last couple of years. I don’t mind too much in enlisting coaching talent from overseas.
I also am happy with a promotion/relegation story, only if it is fair and just. You cannot bring it in now, it would be hopelessly unfair on the Lions. There must be a fair amount of official warning.
Although a comment has been made about the fact that we have more players than both NZ and Aus together, they are clearly not at S15 standard.
I don’t know what the answer, but it is an absolute mess, and as TonyM says, ‘This jamboree is far from over and looks like it will not have a happy ending’.
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