Southern Spears win Court battle to enter Super 14 2007

[biffon]

I read in the paper today that the Cats might be relegated from Super14 to make way for the Spears,

Tiger you've got your finger on the pulse over there... what the F**ck is going on man!!
:smiley29: :smiley29: :smiley29: :smiley29: :smiley3: :smiley3:

[Shayne]

Its a well known fact that which ever SA team came last in this years Super 14 comp would be relegated to make way for the Spears.

[biffon]

yeah but the government & SARFU had stepped in late last season to say that this was not going to happen because if the risk of losing a Massive franchise such as the Cats or Stormers. and thats exactly what has happened.

now the spears have won a court battle to force SARFU to keep its promise.

[Shayne]

Cats are crap anyway. Who's going to miss them?

[biffon]

noone will miss the team but can you imagine all that corporate sponsorship & a massive landmark venue such as Ellis Park going to waste???

god its like Saying if the Tah's were to get the wooden spoon they will be replaced by Tasmania or something... dude its just wrong! Super14 is built around massive ammounts of money and the Cats have access to piles of it!!

[Shayne]

I agree that there is massive money involved.

Have any information on where the Spears are from, player profiles etc?

[biffon]

Daniel "Duxy" Philander (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)
view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro1.htm) 15


Gershom "Ramaz" Ramazan (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)
view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro9.htm) 14

Baldwin "Bizza" McBean (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)

view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro5.htm) 13

Rienhard "Sophie" Gerber (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)

view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro22.htm)12

Luvo "Luvo" Sogidashe (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)

view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro17.htm) 11

Is-Ma'eel "Dols" Dollie (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)

view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro11.htm) 10

Warren "Wakkie" Malgas (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)

view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro26.htm)9

Ashley Jonny" Johnson (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#) captain

view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro2.htm)8

Devon "Bull" Raubenheimer (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)

view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro7.htm)7

Maurice Reid (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)

view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro7.htm)6

Hein "Hein" Potgieter (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)

view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro10.htm) 5

Marius "Mossie" Mostert (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)

view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro18.htm)3

Ashton "Koppe" Constant (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)

view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro3.htm)2

Petros "Mbuso" Methula (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)

view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro20.htm)1

Wayne "Biscuit" Bennett (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)

view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro27.htm)16


Lonwabolwethu "Black Man" Mtimka (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)
view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro16.htm)17

Anton "Brood" van der Westhuizen (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)

view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro28.htm) 18


Kaunda "Bev" Ntunja (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)
view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro14.htm)20

Lian "Lian" Combrinck (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)

view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro15.htm)21

Vakalisile Nako (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)

view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro31.htm) 22

Basil "Kurt Angle" De Donker (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)

view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro6.htm) 23

Vusumzi "Babs" Mbulali (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)

view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro25.htm) 24


Ashwin "Scottie" Scott (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)
view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro4.htm) 25

Spencer Wakeling (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)
view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/pro23.htm)

Relton Hermanus (Manager)
Peter De Villiers (Coach)view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/profile1.htm)
Dr Konrad von Hagen (Doctor)
Wayne Damons & Vera HierholzerPhysio's
Johan Lerm (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#) (Assistant Coach)view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/profile3.htm)
Dumisani Mhani (http://www.thespears.co.za/team.htm#)(Assistant Coach)view profile (http://www.thespears.co.za/profile2.htm)

[biffon]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e8/SouthernSpears.png
The Southern Spears Identity In red, black and white, using three colours from the South African flag, with a spear bolt flashing through the name "Spears", Is In stark contrast to the zoological names of the Bulls, Cheetahs, Cats, Sharks and Stormers. The Inclusion of "Southern" embraces the entire Southern and Eastern Cape area, as well as locates It within Southern Africa for the International audiences watching the Super 14 games.

In an additional announcement, It was revealed that The Southern Spears Super 14 franchise will be supported by a cheerleading group of 45 talented women, over the age of eighteen, to be known as "The SpearLeaders". The SpearLeaders are required to be outstanding and dynamic ambassadors for the team, on the field and off the field, for the Southern Spears Team sponsors and will be selected following a series of auditions, in what was described as, "Where Miss South Africa meets Idols".

Home Venue:
Stadium : Boet Erasmus Stadium (now affectionally called: EPRFU Stadium) Port Elizabeth
Capacity: 45,000 (now 33,852 due to extra conferencing facilities added)
Altitude: Sea-level
Opened : 1960

[TiGeR]

Hold your horses boys...it aint over til the fat lady sings...& the fat lady is NOT SARU/ The High, Appelate or Supreme courts in SA...the fat lady is SANZAR & Rupert Murdoch who owns the TV rights...IF they are agreeable to Spears inclusion, ONLY then will they be involved...The SA courts etc cant force SANZAR/ tv ppl to play the Spears...its all about revenue...
As the late Biggie Smalls said..."Its all about the benjamins baby"...

[biffon]

what are your personal feelings in the matter - im guessing you don't think the Cats should be dropped?

[TiGeR]

what are your personal feelings in the matter - im guessing you don't think the Cats should be dropped?

I think the SPEARS idea was stupid to begin with- while i am fully behind transformation & development of rugby in that region (i worked as a development coach for both the Border & EP Rugby Unions while i was at varsity, coaching in townships & rural areas around East London & PE) & believe it has VAST potential to produce black, coloured & white Boks for the future, there are processes that need to be undertaken & structures in place to make it viable...the Spears squad (or ex squad now!) got HAMMERED by the Cats reserves in a S14 warm up...hardly inspiring stuff for Newscorp when one considers the Cats were SMASHED in the S14 & have only won 2 out of 7 games in the Currie cup so far...against the easy beats of the A league... my personal feeling is rather look at playing the Spears in Vodacom cup & against Zim, Namibia, Kenya, Morocco, Fiji & if you can fit it in any of the Heiniken cup teams...build the players confidence & experience & use the Spears as a breeding ground for the S14 teams...

Did the Spears really win?

Sunday August 06 2006
'You can't force anyone to play in a franchise where they don't want to be'
The Southern Spears' maverick CEO Tony McKeever at the weekend claimed "victory", after a lengthy judgment, handed down by the Cape High Court Judge Dennis Davis last Friday, cleared the way for them to participate in the Currie Cup and Super 14 competitions.
http://www.planetrugby.com/mediastore/images/South_Africa2/ashley_johnson_h_s_200.jpg
Moved on: Ashley Johnson


But it has emerged that at least two major stumbling blocks could stop their victory celebrations in its tracks.
They have no sponsor and no squad to speak off. In fact, they may find it hard to convince any top players to play for them and may have to rely solely on local talent in the South Eastern Cape - which will hardly make them a competitive unit.
The Spears have already lost the services of several of their leading players - with the likes of captain Ashley Johnson (having signed with the Cheetahs), scrum-half Is-Maeel Dollie (Western Province) and Ashton Constant (Pumas) having already moved on.
It is worth noting that the three teams that make up the Spears' franchise - Mighty Elephants, SWD Eagles and Border Bulldogs - make up positions three, four and five in the six-team First Division. Effectively it means they are ranked 11th, 12th and 13th of the 14 provincial unions in the country.
According to Piet Heymans, CEO of the SA Rugby Players Association, the Spears will not be able to lay claim to any players from other franchises who don't want to play for them.
"You can't force anyone to play in a franchise where they don't want to be. It's against the constitution," Heymans told the South African Sunday Times newspaper.
According to the newspaper it has also emerged that Border and SWD have distanced themselves from the court action. They are siding with the South African Rugby Union (SARU) and SA Rugby (Pty) Ltd - the commercial arm of SARU.
And it now also appears that the Spears will have to pay back the almost R6-million they spent in the past six months or so.
"We expect them to pay it back, but I don't know how they intend doing so," Basil Haddad, SARU's finance director told the Sunday Times.
And then of course the Spears must also come up with the R15-million it requires to partake in the Super 14 - and the sponsors are not exactly lining up on their doorstep.
On top of that it has been confirmed at the weekend SARU has instructed its lawyers to appeal against the judgment handed down in the Cape High Court last Friday.
If their application for leave to appeal is refused, SARU intend approaching the Appellate Division in Bloemfontein, according to SARU vice-president Koos Basson, who chairs SARU's national judicial committee.
"This is not ideal ... we must act urgently," Basson told the Sunday Times. "We will ask the chief justice to finalise the matter before the end of November because that's when squads get together."
The Spears' participation would also have to satisfy Newscorp, who own the rights to Super 14. Critically, one of the rules of SA's participation is that the best teams must play.
And as was pointed out above, a number of their top players have already signed elsewhere and will not be available for next year - leaving them to select a team from the leftovers in the South Eastern Cape.
So, it begs the big question: "Did the Spears really win?"

[biffon]

great write-up
where is it from tigs? puts a lot of it into perspective doesnt it.

[TiGeR]

From planetrugby.com ...ja pretty interesting stuff...i also had a chat with the execs at GLRU (Cats & Lions franchise) & SARU about the future of rugby in Gauteng...am thinking of investing in/ starting a rugby academy but needed to have a feel for the future first...

[TiGeR]

I think the SPEARS idea was stupid to begin with- while i am fully behind transformation & development of rugby in that region (i worked as a development coach for both the Border & EP Rugby Unions while i was at varsity, coaching in townships & rural areas around East London & PE) & believe it has VAST potential to produce black, coloured & white Boks for the future, there are processes that need to be undertaken & structures in place to make it viable...the Spears squad (or ex squad now!) got HAMMERED by the Cats reserves in a S14 warm up...hardly inspiring stuff for Newscorp when one considers the Cats were SMASHED in the S14 & have only won 2 out of 7 games in the Currie cup so far...against the easy beats of the A league... my personal feeling is rather look at playing the Spears in Vodacom cup & against Zim, Namibia, Kenya, Morocco, Fiji & if you can fit it in any of the Heiniken cup teams...build the players confidence & experience & use the Spears as a breeding ground for the S14 teams..."

BUT... i do believe that SARFU owe those players & the country BIG TIME for giving them the dream & getting ppl excited bout the concept in the first place without REALLY thinking it through...was a political decision & not a rugby one & now they have egg on their faces & its VERY messy...

[biffon]

It is a pity that EP & Border arent fully represented, some great players from there that have had to play away from their home bases. Breeding grounds i can think of are Graeme College, Kingswood, St Andrews in Grahamstown and Grey High in PE.

i went to Graeme for all of two terms when we lived down there. was a massive school & very intimidating for a lightie that had always been in schools with less than 100 pupils! (one of the schools i went to only had 8 pupils!)

[TiGeR]

Yup, all LEGEND schools!...taught/ stooged at St Andrews & Kingswood- AWESOME times! EP is the inteneded HQ & main home base of the Spears- they will be based there in terms of training & playing MOST of their home games (share a few with Basil Kenyon stadium in East London & the SWD stadium in Worcester)