Having grown up in the area, I have a particularly soft spot towards the idea of the EP Kings Super Rugby 2016 participation.
Admittedly that soft spot is largely the result of sentiment, but knowing the area, the clubs and the people of the larger Eastern Cape fairly well I can understand and appreciate the crucial role that a succesful professional rugby franchise in the area can play in developing a strong pipeline of black players to address the racial transformation targets that SARU have correctly committed to.
EP Kings Super Rugby 2016 Participation
The area does deliver a surprising number of quality rugby players and a simple look at the Super Rugby and Currie Cup squads around the country will bear this out. The issue for the Kings catchment area though, which includes the Border Bulldogs and the South Western Districts Eagles, is that the larger, cash-flush unions are able to recruit the areas’ top players straight out of school. The sole reason for this is that there isn’t a professional rugby franchise in the area and the southern coastline of the country is desperately crying out for this.
So why does this region not have a professional rugby franchise?
The reasons for this are two-fold. The first reason is housed in the political turmoil of the 1990’s. The then EPRFU experienced one of the toughest transformations from the management dominated by the clubs from the previous white administration to a more inclusive, multi-racial management. The boardroom wars of the time were focussed on power and the end product, the game of rugby, seemed to take a back seat.
The second reason is one of economics. The Eastern and Southern Cape, along with the Border region, are populous but there are very few major corporates based there who have the financial clout to sponsor a team in Super Rugby. Figures in excess of R50 million per season are often quoted. Offshore sponsorships are a thing of rarity, so it would be left to a corporate in South Africa to invest in a team playing in an area which they do not have a significant presence in, especialy in terms of direct investment in terms of factories or a Head Office. A lack of sponsorship is not unique to Eastern Province Rugby and those who espouse the notion that “it is because of Cheeky Watson” might want to take a look at Eastern Province cricket (the Warriors). They have always sat at the top table of South African cricket, but for the same reasons have always struggled for sponsorship and once again this year they are playing without a title sponsor.
The Kings are currently paying the price for chasing that one big sponsorship that would secure their future and surely rue the fact that they did not follow the model of their long-time rivals, the Pumas, who engaged local small business in Nelspruit to leverage sponsorships to be able to recruit and pay players. I would go as far as to say that given their success in successfully managing their franchise using only relatively small, local sponsorships they would have been in a position to land a major sponsorship if given the opportunity to play in Super Rugby.
This is where I have to question the manner in which Cheeky Watson has handled the press, the players and the public. On numerous occasions, he has promised all and sundry that he had a R200 million sponsorship deal concluded. One that he described as “game changing”. Despite a mysterious trip to Australia between 12 and 15 November, he returned to Port Elizabeth and had to face a press briefing on 18 November to admit that he did not have the promised sponsorship to present. In this time, the EP Kings players faced a third time in 2015 not receiving their salary payment on time, suffering the humilation of having to accept food and fuel vouchers from SARPA (South African Rugby Players Accossiation) simply to survive. This was the final humiliation for a number of their players and promising players such as Lizo Gqoboka and Tim Agaba have left for the Vodacom Bulls and senior player Tim Whitehead has put in his request to leave, with no final destination being named.
We can only sympathise with the players, who have been forced to make a financial decision to be able to support their families. What is of concern for them though is that they may end up being viewed as Vodacom Cup players and not receive the recognition which they truly deserve.
From a purely journalistic point of view, the Kings have been a disappointment to deal with. Press releases have been generic squad announcements, so it came as a major surprise when we received a press release on 12 November, apologising for not engaging the press more often with regards to what is happening at the Kings. Those communications came to an end as soon as Watson returned to South Africa at the beginning of the week. Calls and mails to their offices remain unanswered. In tough times such as the Kings are facing, Watson does need to appreciate that he needs to have the press on his side to build his brand equity.
There are many that would state that the Kings Super Rugby participation in 2013 was a failure, but I would disagree with that. Super Rugby is an incredibly tough competition to enter and it was widely suggested that they would be at the receiving end of huge hidings each weekend. This did not really materialize, with the only true blowout being their home game against the Waratahs. Although this is not an award winning CV, they did notch up a couple of notable achievements. They were the first team to win their debut game in the tournament as well as the first team to win a match in their debut season. They also managed to surpise 2013 losing finalists, The Brumbies, in Canberra. The question that can never be answered is where would they be now if they were able to continue in the competition for more than one year. For the record, I believe that putting the Lions and the Kings into the position they found themselves in during 2013 was grossly unfair on both teams.
There are many who hold onto the notion of a meritorious competition, having to earn your right to play in a professional franchise tournament. That concept died in the late 1990’s. The original Super 10 comprised of the top four Currie Cup teams and the top three teams from New Zealand and Australia. All had to qualify based on their previous year’s performance in their home provincial competitions. Since the game has become professional, regional franchises have participated in Super Rugby on a permanent basis. When the competition was originally expanded, the unholy alliance between the Cheetahs and the Lions was broken. Teams such as the Western Force and the Melbourne Rebels, franchises without a rugby history, were awarded Super Rugby franchises without having to qualify. All of these new teams would never have existed without a level of patience from both rugby administration and the rugby viewing public.
For their part, the Kings have been working on their long term future on the playing field. What they are not given credit for is getting both of their age group teams to qualify for the A section of the ABSA Currie Cup. The under-21 squad did not have a successful season in 2015 but the under-19 team surprised all and sundry by topping the log and winning the final against the Blue Bulls. The gulf between the haves and the have-nots in South African rugby means that the Kings will struggle to retain this group of players – a test all of the smaller unions face when they have young talent on their books.
To bolster their 2016 Super Rugby squad, the Kings have signed SP Marais, James Hiltebrand, Jurgen Visser, Stefan Watermeyer, JC Roos, Caylib Oosthuizen, Mark Richards, Louis Fouche and Carel Greef. With some of the other unions starting to release players that are excess to requirements the Kings will be on the hunt to grow their talent base, but getting anyone to commit withought the certainty of receiving their monthly pay cheque will be a challenge.
On confirming that there was no title sponsor when Watson returned from Australia, SARU had no option other than to answer the distress call from Watson and to move in to put the EPRFU under administration as the 2016 Super Rugby fixture list was at risk, along with SARU’s reputation within the world of rugby. Bridging finance has been provided, so some player payments have started to happen, but details of payments to the entire squad are very sketchy.
Currie Cup coach Brent Janse van Rensburg, who is rumoured to having not receiving his salary for the last four months, has been appointed as Super Rugby coach and SARU have mobilised what they call their mobi-unit. The Kings will now have the following coaching staff to support Van Rensburg: Pieter de Villiers (Ex France prop) as forwards coach, Louis Koen as Kicking Coach, Jacques Nienaber as Conditioning Coach, as well as Willie Maree (SARU’s Technical Support Manager) and Chean Roux (Springbok Performance Analyst). This is a heavyweight coaching team that will make the most of the squad they have at their disposal.
Aside from the possibility of snapping up players released from their contracts at other franchises, SARU have also committed to assisting the Kings in bringing in players on loan who have not been contracted to Super Rugby franchises in 2016. Springbok scrumhalf and wing, Francois Hougaard, who is now contracted to the Springbok Sevens team, is also rumoured to be made available when not on sevens duty.
The Kings conundrum has become very expensive for SARU to manage, with the knowledge that local Barclays Bank unit, ABSA, has just confirmed that they will no longer be the Springboks title sponsor and are also not renewing their long standing sponsorship of the Currie Cup. In my view, there can only be one positive solution to what has become a management and PR nightmare. SARU will have to continue to bankroll the Kings until they can secure a significant sponsorship in order to be able to take responsibility for their own financial destiny.
Hand in hand with this financial liability, SARU should then use the Kings as the sharp end of transformation as long as they have financial equity in the franchise. The expectation of the Kings would need to be that they exceed all of the transformational targets set out in the Strategic Transformation Plan that SARU have set out for themselves and agreed to by the Department of Sports and Recreation.
If there is going to be some financial pain, there has to be some gain….
“Main Photo:”
