Kick the Kings out, says Stransky
SPRINGBOK legend Joel Stransky has called for the Southern Kings to be booted out of Super Rugby so that a winning culture can be developed in the South African game.
Stransky also wants the Cheetahs to be axed from the competition in a radical shake-up to get the ailing Springboks back on track.
“With all due respect to Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth, there’s not the crowd support and financial support to sustain the teams,” he said.
When the Kings played the Highlanders, only 2 592 fans turned up at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
While the Kings are guaranteed their berth in Super Rugby next year, their long-term future in the event remains unclear with talk that the number of teams could be reduced to make the tournament more competitive.
Stransky made the comments to New Zealand’s Radio Sport station after South Africa crashed to a shock defeat against Italy at the weekend.
“It’s not a good Springbok team and there’s no burning desire to work hard and get through this. There’s something missing in that culture at the moment,” he said.
Stransky blamed administrators and an exodus of young talent to overseas clubs, but said the most pressing issue was the diluted player pool caused by having six Super Rugby teams.
No South African team has won the competition since 2010 and Stransky said their failure was preventing the development of a winning culture that could be transferred to the test arena.
“We need to understand that we can’t compete with six Super Rugby franchises,” he said.
“We’d probably be at our best with four. If we want to be strong in the future we need strong domestic [Super] rugby.”
Stransky said the surviving Super teams would have better player rosters and increased financial clout, making it easier for them to lure young talent back from overseas.
He said the country’s worst-performing Super Rugby teams – the Kings and Cheetahs – should go.
Stransky’s comments will heap extra pressure on the Kings as they look to improve on last season’s showing when they could win only two of the 15 Super Rugby matches they played.
Last season, the Kings were badly hampered by a late start to their preparations
This time around, though, Kings head coach Deon Davids and his team will enjoy a proper preseason that has already moved into full swing,
Davids has already decided that his team will not be over-complicating things as they bid to show they belong in the top flight.
“If we can start from that base with everyone working in the same direction with the same mindset and clear-cut goals and vision, we can look forward to the season,” he said.