Lions make way for Kings

I agree with Frodo and ou Ryperd

This is a lot of rubbish - I hope that I dont lose faith in Rugby like I have with SA Idols....(karaoke idols ?)

1) So they get in WITHOUT a Playoff and the Lions can get back in but only AFTER a Playoff in 2013...??? BOLLOCKS !!!
2) SA is going to BATTLE to win the trophy again - these guys will lose every single match, thus GIFTING 5 points to the travelling teams, from NZ and Aus, who would run their C side, using that away game to rest their travelling A side players.
3) Our sides would also be counting on the gift of 5 points etc,...... but not whilst touring down under, which is a bit different.
4) What will be the next move by the politicians ? Full quotas ?
5) Where will young, talented, non quota players be planning their careers ? Overseas, of course !

The teams from down there are now rubbing their hands in glee, laughing at us.

I am a Lions supporter..... long suffering I may add .... but after Saturdays Currie Cup game against the Sharks I must admit that they are second rate and do not deserve a spot in the Super 15...16 or any other numeric.

Louis well said, our rugby seems to be going down a slippery slope with all the political intervention.

The only point I disagree with you is point 3, as in the new format we play all SA sides home and away which should give us a gift 10 points and exercise the option to rest players for 2 games and not only one. One of the Aus and NZ sides will not play the Kings as well so if they are a top side they would lose out on the easy points. With 2 games against the Kings I believe it would benefit the 4 SA sides more than their NZ and Aus counterparts.

The Lions have a win percentage of 20% since becoming the Lions in 2007 so they have hardly scared any of the top sides in this competition. Their wins this season came against the Cheetahs, Sharks and Rebels. Oversea's sides like the Crusaders rested their top player for the Lions clash so don't see much difference about having the Lions or Kings in the competition, as both are not really good enough to compete for anything other than the wooden spoon is this competition.

It will be good for the kids to watch some of the overseas rugby stars in P.E..
The Southern Kings consist of players from East London, George & P.E. , people in these areas will surely enjoy next seasons S15.

Tero Wrote:

---

> It will be good for the kids to watch some of the
> overseas rugby stars in P.E..
> The Southern Kings consist of players from East
> London, George & P.E. , people in these areas will
> surely enjoy next seasons S15.


Tero I agree wth the sentiment but it does get painful watching your side in a huddle under their own poles match after match.

Magi Wrote:

---

> I am a Lions supporter..... long suffering I may
> add .... but after Saturdays Currie Cup game
> against the Sharks I must admit that they are
> second rate and do not deserve a spot in the Super
> 15...16 or any other numeric.


Yes they were poor, but they were much better against the Cheetahs the previous week, so one has to wonder how much motivation (deep down in their hearts) there was against the Sharks :S

Luyt: Where's the money?

Johannesburg - Former Lions and SARU boss Louis Luyt has slammed the Lions for allowing the once-strong rugby union to fall into disrepute, predicting they would have to go into liquidation to stop the rot, reports supersport.com.
Luyt, who built the Lions - then Transvaal - into a multi-million rand empire and retired in 2000, leaving them financially sound, uttered his disbelief at the current state of affairs to internet station Ballz Radio.

According to Luyt, when he retired the Lions had “R85m in cash reserves and no debt” - a far cry from the R80m in the red that the Guma group claimed in court papers against the Lions earlier this year.

The Times reported a transcript of Luyt’s comments, where he predicted the Lions would go into liquidation soon.

There was no plan, no bloody plan. What the hell did they do all that time?

"Where is the money? How the hell can you lose that much money? It's there to be invested and earn more money. You lose it only if you're stupid enough to lose it," he said."I'll tell you one thing, if the GLRU owes more money than it can pay, it will have to go into liquidation.

"It's painful for me to contemplate that it could be sequestrated and closed down because it was the finest and strongest union in the world not so long ago."

Luyt urged the Lions to put egos aside and find good investors to save the union.

That's exactly what I thought in the beginning
Louis Luyt would have crushed this little bug Watson

Say what you want about him but Louis knew business

Our current President at the Lions knows nothing great player that he was

Southern Kings coach Alan Solomons has confirmed Luke Watson will be the captain when the team makes their Super Rugby debut.


Despite the Stormers management's best attempts to retain him, the Southern Kings on Wednesday named Western Province flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis among their first batch of high-profile signings.

Kings President Cheeky Watson told a media briefing in Port Elizabeth that Catrakilis, Free State Cheetahs centre Andries Strauss and Sharks lock Steven Sykes have all signed two-year contracts with the Kings - effective on November 2012.

Twelve players from the current EP team, including the captain Luke Watson, have signed contract extensions through 2013.

The Kings boss, Watson, also revealed that they are in talks to sign more high-profile names ahead of the Super Rugby debut.

He said he was talking to a number of European-based players and several players in Argentina.

"We are talking to players all over the place," Watson said, adding: "We are talking to South African players based overseas and there are a couple of technicalities which we are looking at as we attempt to bring players on board."

So we can now call them the Lion-Kings.

Good one element!!

Ou Ryperd Wrote:

---

> Southern Kings coach Alan Solomons has confirmed
> Luke Watson will be the captain when the team
> makes their Super Rugby debut.
>
>
> Despite the Stormers management's best attempts to
> retain him, the Southern Kings on Wednesday named
> Western Province flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis among
> their first batch of high-profile signings.
>
> Kings President Cheeky Watson told a media
> briefing in Port Elizabeth that Catrakilis, Free
> State Cheetahs centre Andries Strauss and Sharks
> lock Steven Sykes have all signed two-year
> contracts with the Kings - effective on November
> 2012.
>
> Twelve players from the current EP team, including
> the captain Luke Watson, have signed contract
> extensions through 2013.
>
> The Kings boss, Watson, also revealed that they
> are in talks to sign more high-profile names ahead
> of the Super Rugby debut.
>
> He said he was talking to a number of
> European-based players and several players in
> Argentina.
>
> "We are talking to players all over the place,"
> Watson said, adding: "We are talking to South
> African players based overseas and there are a
> couple of technicalities which we are looking at
> as we attempt to bring players on board."

i thought they were going to give development players a go but it seems foreign players and Pumas to help them -