Does anyone know what the chat out of SA is ?
If the ARU is a train crash in slo mo, SARU is multiple train crashes going freeze frame by freeze frame.
SARU have called together a cutting criteria recommendation group. Think it is reps from the franchises. Criteria then go forward to another group to review the franchises performance against those criteria. Recomended back to the SARU general board for approval. In June by the planning.
Stack of steps open to interference. And each of those groups have different make up and power in the hands of the various rugby provinces. Generally though, the franchises have more voting power, then the larger unions, then the small fry.
There has also been a recent political head rolling session by the governing party of South Africa, or actually by President Zuma. The least important being a new Minister for Sport. This role is about radically pushing transformation. The new bloke is something of an unknown. As usual not much has transparancy, but it is understood that the Ministry of Sport has given reluctant tacit support for SARU to chase the RWC and SARU has given reluctant tacit support to make Eastern (Cape) Province a Super Rugby franchise.
Because of financial matters led by the infamous Cheeky Watson, EPRU (the rugby union that would have been behind the Kings except SARU found it cheaper to have them liquidated) do not have a vote at SARU and were recently kicked out of the Currie Cup. Or more accurately relegated from Premier to First Division where they play well known rugby stalwarts - like the Namibian Welwitschias.
So Kings being cut is a bit like Waratahs being cut but offered entry into Subbies, not Shute Shield. You'd be mad to think there wont be political out fall.
In the mean time, the presumption from the white press and the SA rugby world is that Kings go, Cheetahs go. The process smells of nothing more than a future justification with responsibility spread around, and heaps of opportunity for people to opt out or defer if it gets too hot.
Cheetahs, or more accurately Free State (Northern Cape) breed Springboks, have previous history of failing to merge with other franchises (remember the cats?) and won Currie Cup Premier last year.
But these presumptions of who get cut are yet to really hit the well-oiled machine of transformation.