The Southern Kings: Where to now?

Over the course of today, most if not all South African rugby fans would have heard the news that the Southern Kings did not win the right to be the 15th franchise in the expanded Super 15 competition, set to kick off in 2011.

To say that this news is surprising would be the same as proclaiming that man indeed cannot walk on water: we all knew it was the truth and the fact the man ended up drowning was inevitable.

Oregan Hoskins, for all his wiles, attempted to paint a picture which said that though he was disappointed by the decision, this wasn’t the end of the Southern Kings (the misfit twin brother of the ill-fated and long lost Southern Spears). Hoskins did his best to paint a rosy picture on garbage bag, since the Kings’ bid was seen by the deciding committee to be more advanced in every facet except where it mattered the most: the bank balance.

No matter how superior the bid may have been, the loss of $20 million (Australian), about R137 million, plus the added expenditure of another half a million Australian dollars to support the Kings’ travel requirements, because they would have had to cross the Indian Ocean at least twice, with the PE-based franchise having to play their away games in Australia. It also impacted on revenue estimates since Sanzar are banking (pun intended) on more home derbies being a money-spinner for the alliance.

Though the decision has been made, it could prove to be a poison pill for Australian rugby which quite obviously doesn’t have the player numbers to support five different franchises, let alone four. Oh well … the die has been cast so the question is: where to now for the Kings?

Hoskins said that the next step was to explore the dynamics between the three participating unions (SWD, Border and EP) and consider their “individual aspirations”, an issue raised by the parliamentary portfolio committee on sport. What he means by that is anyone’s guess, but the fact that Border are financially in very bad shape, with SWD and EP also having their own financial question marks, certainly made the decision to award Melbourne the new franchise that much easier.

SA Rugby has reportedly also had to step in financially with the three Kings unions, paying off debts that had been amassed over a period of time. Clearly, something is amiss when it comes to the Kings’ organisation as a franchise since the participating unions don’t even have a co-operation agreement.

Future options? We could see the return of the promotion-relegation saga that met its death once the Big Five had rallied re-enforcements across the Indian Ocean, with both the Australian Rugby Union and the New Zealand Rugby Union opposed to what they saw as the weakening of the competition, which would ultimately mean reduced revenue.

One option that could be pursued would be the elimination of SWD, Border and EP as individual unions and they assume their Kings title to compete in the Currie Cup. With the Currie Cup likely to shrink in size come 2011, the Kings could potentially sneak into a premier division consisting of 7 teams. The chances of this happening though appear from the outside at least to be quite remote, since that would mean diluting the power of the individuals who control the three unions. And as Eskom and Armscor have taught us, no one likes to give up their power willingly.

Who knows, maybe SA Rugby (soon to be Saru with the amalgamation of the commercial and amateur arms) do have a plan and will spell-bound us all with its brilliance and “clear-headedness”. Somehow, I don’t think they do but one thing is certain: the more things change the more they stay the same, and the biggest loser out of this whole mess is rugby players and fans in SWD, Border and EP. The stench of mediocrity will continue to permeate the hinterland of the South African rugby landscape until strong leadership and willing soldiers find the answer.

Till then, expect the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium to become a white elephant after the 2010 World Cup, with the echoes emanating from the empty stands serving as a chilling reminder how far rugby in the region has to go. The sooner the Kings become a cohesive force in SA Rugby the better, so we shall have to wait and see what happens next.