Recent developments in South African rugby and, in particular, Western Province rugby have prompted me to take the decision not to renew in 2016 the 4 seats held by my family since the late 1950's and, in my personal capacity, since 1975 when my father died & the annual renewal became my financial responsibility.
I have a number of reasons for taking this decision:
1.) Western Province rugby has a been a good couple of notches short of 'word class' (in my sole opinion) since the early 1990s under the late Jan Pickard. That's a long time.
2.) In particular WP rugby has never truly managed to adapt to the professional era and continues to be run in an amateurish manner. The latest fiasco involving Eddie Jones & John Mitchell is merely one in a long list of somewhat controversial issues which have impaired the development and success of rugby in my home province.
3.) The real rot started for me with the player 'near strike' of 1999 just before the SuperRugby semi-final where the preparation for this historic match was interrupted by money issues. Poetically the Highlanders smashed the Stormers but I was left wondering how much store the players placed on the jersey and the fans before their own personal financial considerations.
4.) Newlands is now a tired, obsolete stadium with chaotic access control, squalid facilities and boorish fans. It is one of the only rugby union grounds I know where opposing teams are habitually booed for no valid reason. I really don't enjoy being a part of that.
5.) Despite Cape Town's commendable habit of strongly supporting most topclass international contests we have been denied seeing the All Blacks since 2008. Management seems quite sanguine about this. I'm less so.
6.) It's a huge effort to go to a game. Parking, refreshments etc., make it both enormously time consuming and expensive. Sadly the quality of entertainment seldom comes anywhere near to matching the effort & expense required.
7.) It may well prove to have been a strategic mistake not to have moved to the more modern Cape Town Stadium when the opportunity was offered. Time will tell but the recent attendance at the Cape Town 7's suggests that I am perhaps not far off in my assessment of Newlands as a modern sports facility worth patronising. Not.
8.) It is simply easier and more convenient to watch matches on TV as I inevitably miss up to 2 other SuperRugby matches whilst commuting to and from Newlands. Furthermore I can simply switch off or watch something else if the match involving the home side deteriorates into the type of dour rubbish that is so often dished up.
9.) Either I am too discerning or too old for modern sport but I have noted a common trend across most local disciplines including racing. For the most part there appears to be a decline in standard (when measured globally) and a rise in the level of sheltered employment without accountability by the individuals running it.
So this year I will not be donating the requested R10,000 to assist in its running. Nor ever again for the balance of my lifetime.
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