Kings embrace help from top

SA Rugby steps in and Rassie promises to lend a hand too

● You can’t fault the Southern Kings detractors’ honesty, the team’s director of rugby Robbi Kempson quipped this week.

There has been nothing regal about the team since the Kings first did battle in 2013. As if their seven lean years needed to be underscored, SA Rugby last week pulled the plug on investors who had promised not just a lifeline, but the world.

The grandiosely named Greatest Rugby Company (GRC) took a 74% stake in the Kings at a reported cost of R45m last year. But SA Rugby took that, claiming the consortium had not made an initial payment which was due last September.

Heartbeat of black rugby

“The agreement only kicked in March 2019, so the first tranche was only payable in March this year,” said former stakeholder Loyiso Dotwana, who represented the new stakeholder. “It was an oversight on our part and we should have changed the agreement. By the end of this month we would have made payment.”

He said the problem went deeper.

“We wanted to make this the heartbeat of black rugby but from day one we had a partner that made it impossible.”

Board representation and funding from the EP Rugby Union was a problem, he said. It was impossible to work with EP Rugby.

Given the financial strain of Covid-19, adopting the Kings seems imprudent for SA Rugby. It costs R40m a year to keep the team in the mainly European Pro14.

There is also no clear return on the investment with the team haemorrhaging cash and tries. The Kings have won only four of their 55 matches since joining the Pro14 in the 2017/18 season. There have been calls for the Kings to be pulled from the competition.

“You can’t fault them for their honesty,” said Kempson about the team’s most strident detractors.

“I know we have taken strides. They are taking us more seriously [in Europe] but with that comes the fact that we don’t have the necessary wins under the belt,” said Kempson.

“The most important thing is the youngsters we’ve been blooding and bringing through, that they continue in the structure that they are in right now. It will only hold them in good stead and indeed SA rugby.”

He pointed to Tiaan Botes (flyhalf), Alulutho Tshakweni (prop) and Elrigh Louw (lock) as players who have a future at the Kings.

“They are youngsters 20, 21, and in the case of Tiaan he’s just turned 19. They’ve now played in an international provincial competition, probably one of the toughest in the world,” said Kempson.

To underline his point Kempson reckons Super Rugby teams will struggle in the Pro14.

“I don’t think there is a side in the southern hemisphere, besides maybe the Crusaders, who will beat a full-strength Leinster. It is virtually an Irish international team. The Cheetahs and us probably need double our budget to be competitive in Pro14.”

While it does little for their self-esteem, the Kings being funded by SA Rugby may be a blessing. The team is now under more direct control of SA Rugby and its pool of coaching resources.

Love and attention

Kempson said he was in continuing discussions with SA Rugby’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus.

“He made it very clear he is there to support us as much as he can with the resources at his disposal. We are probably not seen as a top franchise in the country so we probably need an extra bit of love and attention.

“We will tap into the knowledge of the Springbok coach, or [Mzwandile] Stick or Deon [Davids],” said Kempson.

He believes the latest events give SA Rugby greater leverage to place players in a competition that requires specific skills.

“We will go through a process of trying to bring in more players in specific positions. We have lost players like Demetri Catrakilis so we need to bolster certain positions.”

Apart from benefiting from player and coaching resources, having SA Rugby’s hand on the tiller is proving reassuring at a team where salaries weren’t always paid on time.

“It has just brought a sense of calm to everyone,” said Kempson.

“We can move forward with everything. Everyone understandably was a little tentative and nervous about this because it has happened before. Hopefully, this will calm the troubled waters.”