Battling the Boks
Kings have issues signing players while Japanese outfit faces uncertain future
9am: The latest from South Africa ahead of this weekend’s Springboks test
10am: In his Midweek Fixture column, Dylan Cleaver gets in behind Steve Hansen’s bid to rid rugby of the lineout drive.
Six months from kickoff, the shiny new Super Rugby series is facing significant glitches to its expansion plans. The 10 teams in the New Zealand/ Australian conferences are sorted but details are chaotic about the promoted Kings side in South Africa and a new group from Japan.
It’s a lost cause seeking the chief executive of Sanzar to ask questions about the continuing pickle in South Africa.
No one has been appointed to replace Greg Peters, who is riding off into the Buenos Aires sunset to oversee their Super Rugby debut.
At least the noises coming from the Pumas are encouraging. They have signed the bulk of their squad to play alongside three South African sides in their conference.
One of those should be the Kings who are assured a place at one of the conference tables but are facing persistent problems contracting staff and players.
The Kings went ahead with their latest trial game against the Bulls but only after a succession of peacemaking messages from president Daniel “Cheeky” Watson about unpaid wages and a promised sponsorship said to be worth about R200 million ($24.34 million).
Apparently he phoned all the players before the match to explain the financial shortfalls and promised they would be paid up over the weekend and that the Kings would also invest in new players. Those assurances remain unfulfilled.
As events have also unfolded, former All Black Carlos Spencer, appointed on a five-year deal in late 2013 and soon promoted to head coach, has slid down the rung.
“Spencer is very strong technically so he will have an important technical role,” said Watson. “
We’re bringing in a big-hitter though and we’re going to turn this union around.”
New head coach Brent Janse van Rensburg has been appointed with Spencer diverted to working with the backs and running skills sessions.
If the situation is unstable at the Kings, there do not appear to be any more advances with the Eddie Jonescoached Japanese side.
It’s not a good look alongside the withdrawal of government backing to build a new national stadium planned as the centrepiece for Japan staging the 2019 World Cup.
The new team is owned by the JRU rather than one of the rich corporations which bankroll the local tournaments.
Japan has been placed in one of the South African conferences next year, a trip which will take the best part of a day’s flying so Sanzar has agreed they can play half their games in Singapore.
The Japanese team will struggle to attract regular crowds and supporters because they will play the bulk of their games away from home at times which will not be attractive to domestic television audiences. Signing up players also remains a problem.
While the transtasman conferences are sorted, one of the gripes is that there will be a reduction in the home and away derbies which have been the most attractive games this season.
There is also another iniquity come finals time when five teams from the NZ/Australia pool are guaranteed qualifiers while only three teams will advance from the SA conferences.