It is with much amusement that I see the conundrum of the Southern Kings is yet to be solved. Slated to join Super Rugby in 2013, the SA Rugby Union (Saru) is no closer to figuring out a way to squeeze the Eastern Cape franchise into the competition without screwing one of the other five teams, (realistically the Cheetahs and the Lions are the ones who have had to watch their backs).
It appears rugby administrators have managed to build a time machine and transport themselves back to the mid-2000s, when the now-defunct Southern Spears were talked about as a possible new entry into Super Rugby. A few years later, after an administrative overhaul, new branding and the fresh import of some not-so-fresh players, little has changed if anything at all.
Saru was accused by some connected to rugby in the Eastern Cape of making promises which either it did not want to keep or could not keep. Now, with 2013 approaching, it boggles the mind how South African rugby has managed to land itself in almost exactly the same situation as before.
The administrators have found a way to kick the can down the road, on the field the picture isn’t rosy either. The Lions all of a sudden won the Currie Cup through a style of rugby that has got tongues wagging and closet supporters re-emerging into the sunlight. The Cheetahs put in a much improved performance in last year’s Super Rugby competition, and the EP Kings managed to get themselves walloped by Boland in the First Division Currie Cup final.
For a team that is meant to be at the forefront of “transformation” or whatever politically correct word is bandied about, there isn’t much transformation going on when you look at the EP team that started the final against Boland. Of the starting XV, three players weren’t white. Of the match 22, that number is increased to four. While measuring numbers is an extremely crude and ineffective means of deducing the answer to “How far have we come?”, for the Kings it muddies the waters somewhat since transformation is meant to be one of the aces they have in their deck.
Beyond that, who knows? South Africa can’t afford to enter a team whose representative sides both play in the First Division. While it was short-sighted and self-serving to the bigger unions to reduce the Premier Division to six teams, more should have been done, even if it meant crow-barring the Kings into the Premier Division, to at least give the Eastern Cape a realistic chance of knowing how prepared they are for the rigors of Super Rugby.
From this position, from the outside looking in, the Kings are once again an idea nobody wants, an idea nobody wants to do anything concrete about, and at this moment, simply that: an idea.
The problem with ideas is no matter how excellent the premise and plan, it doesn’t mean squat until someone actually does anything meaningful about it. Talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words.
The way the situation is panning out, the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium won’t see Super Rugby anytime soon. Someone just forgot to tell the Eastern Cape.
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