Tuesday’s Rugby News is all about the Force – the reports, their fighting words back, and how the Kings could turn out to be their saviours.
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Forced Out, Pt 1.
The Daily Telegraph is reporting that the Western Force are going to get cut.
The Force will only get cut if the Sanzaar decides to go the 15 teams which, given the report’s narrative, seems the likely option.
The decision whether Super stays as an 18-team comp or goes down to a 15-team comp, will be decided at a meeting next week on 6 April.
As the report says:
“All SANZAAR partners have agreed in principal that a more streamlined 15-team competition is needed for next year, and that involves Australia cutting one team and South Africa cutting two.
“All parties are working towards the 15-team concept but have left the possibility open of retaining the current 18-team structure if South Africa suddenly decides it cannot lose two teams.
“Political issues are involved, with the South African government not keen to see the Southern Kings, a side they fought to have in the competition, removed.”
The report also adds that the ARU “would not comment for this story. They have their hands tied because South Africa has yet to confirm they’ll cut two teams.”
The decision to cut the Force, the report intimates, was made due to the fact:
- The ARU owns the Force
- Cutting the Rebels might lead them to court
- The Brumbies are Australia’s most succesful team, and have powerful backers
- The Tahs and Reds produce most of the players
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Forced Out, Pt. 2
A few other bits and bobs from that same Daily Telegraph report.
If the Force is cut, the ARU “is planning to take control of the Force roster and tell players contracted beyond this season which rival Australian clubs they’ll join next year,” says the report.
“As part of the overhaul, contracted Force players would have any remaining years of their deals honoured by the ARU.
“But as part of this, the ARU wants to dictate where those players go next, rather than having a large chunk of Force players opting for the Waratahs or Reds because they’d rather live in Sydney or Brisbane.”
The report goes on.
“The abolition of the Force would be an exercise in strengthening the other teams who were considered for axing; the Melbourne Rebels and Brumbies.
“The Telegraph understands that while star Wallaby players like Dane Haylett-Petty and Adam Coleman will be given more flexibility by the ARU in where they want to play, non-Wallaby players will essentially be reassigned clubs by the national body.”
The report concludes with these two lines:
“The Force launched a new ownership campaign last week, urging fans to pay $1000 each to own 10,000 shares in the newly public Western Force Owners Pty Ltd company. Buyers will be refunded if the franchise folds.
“The Force, formed in 2005, entered Super Rugby in 2006 but have never made the finals. They have finished in the bottom three of the competition in six of their 11 seasons.”
If you’re interested in purchasing a stake in the Force, follow this link.
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Force Fight Back
The Western Force have released a strongly-worded statement in a lightning-fast response to the Daily Telegraph’s report.
The press release in full:
“RugbyWA and the Road Safety Western Force would like to issue the following statement;
“Under no circumstances do we believe today’s speculation around the future of the Road Safety Western Force to be true. Two and half weeks ago, through a national phone link-up all clubs were told that the ARU through the governing body, SANZAAR was investigating a number of issues and those issues had to be resolved prior to a decision being made to reduce any of the Australian franchises.
“There has been no further contact from the Australian Rugby Union to any of the Western Force players or staff, so at this time there is no further comment on the matter until substantiated facts are put forward.
“Until then the organisation will be business as per usual, with the team taking on the Blues in Auckland this Saturday and the launch of the Own the Force share applications this Thursday. Click here for more information.”
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Kings Saviours?
Sport24.co.za have a possible second chance saloon for the Force: South Africa’s government really really doesn’t want SARU to cut the Kings.
South Africa has six teams – the Stormers (Cape Town), Lions (Johannesburg), Bulls (Pretoria), Sharks (Durban), Cheetahs (Bloemfontein) and the Kings (Eastern Cape). The first four of those teams are traditional heavyweights, located in the four biggest cities.
Therefore, if South Africa was to cut two teams (the Jaguares and Sunwolves are out of the picture, by the way), it pretty much has to be the Cheetahs and the Kings. Any merger – remember the Cats? That was a joint venture between the Lions and the Cheetahs – would probably result in bad blood.
However, as the Kings represent a majority black area, the South African government, what with being all anti-apartheid and all, are mad keen on SARU keeping the Kings.
Here’s the report:
“A key SANZAAR meeting is scheduled for April 6, and while there is a general agreement that Super Rugby must be slimmed down to 15 sides, a current stumbling block is reportedly the South African government’s backing to keep the Southern Kings involved in the competition, despite low crowds and poor performances on the field.
“The Eastern Cape region boasts a strong heritage of black rugby representation and the Kings’ participation of the event is seen as a necessity.
“Should South Africa decide it cannot cut two teams then the competition could remain with 18 sides in 2018.”
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