Rugby

Saffas threaten to quit S14. Again?

By BobasFebruary 17, 20099 Comments

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Bobas

Brumbies supporter now living in Melbourne. Rugby and Larkham fan ever since he de beered de Beer. Never shy of controversy because when I say it it's cute.

<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="1159 https://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/?p=1159">9 Comments

Patrick on February 17, 2009 10:14 am

I doubt it they know their players need the experience.

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Juan Cote on February 17, 2009 10:36 am

This is a yearly event, the Yappies threatening to pull out of the Super 14/Tri-nations and head north for the winter. You can almost set your watch by it…..

Let ’em go I say, it would save me getting up in the middle of the fucking night to watch the Wallabies/Reds get dusted 4 or 5 times a year

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- James on February 17, 2009 11:10 am
  
  agreed. let them walk. SA teams have never really brought that much interesting ra ra to the table anyway. tho it will be sad to see them go. they have the most to lose out of this.
  if they do go japan and argent will come to the party.
  
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WhoNeedsMelon on February 17, 2009 7:45 pm

Guys,

You can’t seriously think the Super rugby comp (and tri-nations?) would be better off without SA?!?

And Patrick I agree that Super rugby has been and still is good for SA.

Unfortunately SA rugby has a history of making unusual (shall we say) decisions and so there’s no telling what they’ll do.

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Gagger on February 17, 2009 8:03 pm

Gives me the shits as well, but as I understand it the Saffas bring the TV cash to the SANZAR table through force of numbers (can’t be the frikken rand).

Hence the yearly song and dance and hence JO’N being so keen to get the Japanese sugar daddy to the table to even things out.

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Pedro on February 17, 2009 10:37 pm

SA is comparitively quite close to Europe, I can understand why they think they have an option.

If we just had Bledisloe Cup internationals as permanent fixtures it would open the door for more interesting internationals. SA matches are good but it’s always just who can win away. Bring on the Argies and the Japs.

Pedro’s last blog post..Nil All, Good For Qualifying, Bad for Spectators.

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Jeremy on March 6, 2009 3:41 am

I reckon the whole thing needs a revamp. The S14 just doesnt do it for me anymore. Maybe its the ELVs, maybe theres just too much footy……..aah who knows, it just aint the same.

The TNs too. Im a Kiwi but not of the one eyed variety, I just reckon playing you fellas & SA 3 times each is a bit piss poor, it does get a bit tiresome & whenever the Poms, Frogs & Welshies come over they’re rubbish as it doesnt suit them, its meaningless as is a Grand Slam tour up north, for whatever reasons you just dont see the best of the sides who are touring.

Id rather we get 2 pre season Bledisloe games before a 10 nations comp. to start it’d be the top 10 ranked sides in the world, with a 2nd division (another 10 teams), a 3rd division & so on. Bottom 2/3 ranked sides in each division get relegated, top few sides get promoted or in the first divisions case, in the winner of the 1st divisions case, a few million bob & a guaranteed 5 home games to make their consistent efforts worth while, albeit with semis & and a final. The nations with the best sides should proper instead of those with the biggest clubs (NH bastards). NZ & Aussie punch well above their weight in the numbers game yet it counts for fuck all with our cream heading offshore for the $$$$

Basically the first division would be:

1 NZ
2 SA
3 Aussie
4 Argentina
5 Wales
6 Ireland
7 France
8 Poms
9 Scotland
10 Fiji

9 games + a semi + final, 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw, bonus points.

No break during the season except for 2 weeks off before the semis so this will benefit teams with stronger all round squads.

For the semis & final, the host cities can scrap it out for hosting rights before the season starts.

Scrap the 6Ns & TNs, here it is, what will fix test rugby for good & remove the over importance of the World Cup, every test will be meaningfull in some way or another.

Fuck the S14, we dont need it, maybe we could let you buggers into the NPC & and call it that, let SA do whatever they want, if a world league can generate enough dosh to filter through to keep the grass roots alive then its all good.

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Gagger on March 6, 2009 7:26 am

Interesting idea Jezza, I dunno about doing it every year. Let’s be honest, it’s world cup with all the shit taken out.

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- Jeremy on March 7, 2009 8:13 am
  
  They say tests are meaningless these days because of the over importance placed on the WC….well, give them meaning.
  For a WC year, just have the 6Ns & TNs as we do now.
  
  It isnt really a WC, a WC is all about who turns up on the day for that one off knock out comp, no reward for consistency which is a crime IMO.
  
  I just wonder how the NH sides would take it because lets be honest here, every year there’d probably only be 1 6Ns team crackin’ a semi.
  
  Compared with the 6Ns, noone really gives a shit about the TNs anymore, having been in Europe for the past 5 years every 6Ns game sells out quickly & its nuts, chuck us in the mix & you’d have such a wicked comp. The more NZ, SA & Aussie play each other the cheaper the fixtures become, its just same old shit another year. Id rather the WC be slightly watered down with this comp than have every test match mean bugger all for 3 1/2 years, its killing the game.
  Also, think of the lower tier nations, their goal would be to crack the big league & play amongst the elite, at the moment they’re excluded & have no way to break through, as much as the IRB says they’re doing well in developing the lower nations, fuck alls ever gonna happen in the big scheme & it’d kinda take away the guilts with the Argentina in the wilderness thing.
  
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