Tuatara given extension to fight for survival SA Super teams to face northern clubs
The Auckland Tuatara have been given an extension until early in the new year to prove to Baseball Australia they’re worthy of being accepted in the ABL next season.
The Tuatara decided not to take part in the ABL this year, because of the financial implications of being based in Australia for the entire campaign.
Baseball Australia was furious with the Tuatara’s 11th hour decision, with CEO Cam Vale accusing the club of mismanagement in a scathing press release.
The Tuatara were charged with being in breach of their licence agreement and in mid-November were given 28 days to make the case on why they should remain in the league.
But Tuatara CEO Regan Wood says they have been given an extension.
‘‘A little bit of that is to do with having some time aside to discuss what needs to be done,’’ Wood told Stuff.
‘‘But with Covid breaking out [in Sydney] and the ABL starting last week, Cam and I agreed to deal with this in the new year.
‘‘Yes, we’ll be playing baseball, but we’ve got to work through the process.
‘‘Certainly, they’re not happy with us from a press release point of view yet. We’ve got things to work through and the board of Baseball Australia want to tidy stuff up.’’
Baseball Australia will need to be convinced the Tuatara are financially secure if they’re to return to the ABL for the 2021/22 season and that they won’t do the same again.
‘‘We’ve got to give them a business plan and our financials,’’ Wood said.
‘‘We’ve got to almost commit to playing in the league next season, whether there’s an outbreak or not.
‘‘They would hate for us to start next year and then us say we’re not doing it because of Covid.
‘‘They want us to make sure we’re coming, hell or high water.
‘‘That will be one of the sticking points, absolutely, we’re committed to it.’
The new ABL season began last weekend, but was plagued with a number of problems.
Perth’s entire home series against Canberra wasn’t played because of the latest coronavirus outbreak in Australia and the series between Sydney and Melbourne was cut short so that Aces players could return to Victoria before the state border with New South Wales closed.
Also, Manny Ramierz, the 48-year-old Boston Red Sox legend and by far the biggest name ever to sign with an ABL team, was unable to play for Sydney last weekend and will continue to be unavailable until further notice, due to ‘‘ongoing sensitive and confidential medical reasons,’’ the Blue Sox said in a statement.
Ramirez, who the Tuatara were also interested in signing, would have given baseball massive exposure in Australia had he played, but it’s possible he won’t play at all.
Wood said he doesn’t have any regrets about the decision for the Tuatara to pull out for this season.
‘‘No. It was still a tough decision and it felt like we were letting down our mates with the other teams,’’ he said.
‘‘But look at last weekend. We were quarantining some of our guys in New South Wales and they would be getting out in the next few days.
‘‘Because we’d be playing in Brisbane, those guys in NSW might not be able to travel out of NSW when they come out of quarantine.
‘‘Do we have any regrets? No. It was a difficult decision and ideally we’d like to be playing baseball, because we’re a baseball team,’’ Wood said.
The Springboks’ preparations for the British and Irish Lions tour next year have received a major boost after it was confirmed that four former Super Rugby teams will play in the Rainbow Cup against PRO14 clubs from the northern hemisphere.
The competition is slated to start on April 17 next year, with the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers to face teams from Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy in games in South Africa and the northern hemisphere.
South Africa Rugby Union director of rugby Rassie Erasmus described the timing of the Rainbow Cup as ‘‘perfect’’, given it will provide the country’s top players with tough competition before the Lions tour South Africa later in the season.
‘‘It will be a step up from domestic competition and remind our players of the different type of rugby they can expect when the Lions are here,’’ Erasmus said.
South African teams were cut loose from Super Rugby after NZ Rugby made it clear that it wanted to move away from the competition structure that had been in place since 1996.
Later, when Sanzaar tried to launch the Rugby Championship in Australia, the Springboks did not participate. As a consequence, the tournament was played between New Zealand, Australia and Argentina and called the TriNations.
The Springboks have not played since beating England in the World Cup final in Yokohama in 2019.
The Lions are set to tour South Africa for eight matches, the final three of which are tests against the world champion Springboks, from July 3-August 7.
The 16 teams in the Rainbow Cup will be divided into two pools of eight, made up of two Irish, two South African, two Welsh, one Italian and one Scottish club.
Each team will play one game against each pool opponent and the sides that finish top of their pools will face off in a final on June 19.
According to SA Rugby, negotiations for the South African teams to permanently join PRO14 ‘‘remain ongoing and an update will be provided at the appropriate time’’.
The current PRO14 season ends with the final on March 27.