July Day and the Rugby!!!

Apologies if this is an old topic - but ive just established that the 3rd tour match between the Springboks and the British and Irish Lions is on the same day as South Africa's biggest horseracing event (Vodacom Durban July).

WTF???

Do you ever think the British authorities would hold the FA Cup final on the the same day as the Epsom Derby or the Grand National - I think not!!!

Plus I think the Super 14 final and the FA Cup final clash on Saturday.

No way would I grab the hand control and change the channel at my local in Pretoria!

To be fair insofar as the Super 14 final is concerned - there is no way of telling at the beginning of a season on which continent the final will take place. Traditionally South African sides do not qualify for a home final (!) so the match has usually taken place in the morning to co-incide with NZ or Australian time.

Also - in my experience the FA Cup Final has usually taken place a little earlier in May. It normally is on ( or close to ) my birthday which is in the middle of May.

Possibly the Super 14 Final could have been scheduled for a 19:00 start but this would have made it a little easier for the visiting side. And why should we make it any easier?

English and Scottish Fa cup finals both on saturday

On that day we have the Wimbledon Ladies Final, The 1st Ashes Test, The Lions v South Africa, a few major horse racing meetings. What's the problem? The more the merrier.

and don't forget the Tour de France prolouge - it is the biggest betting day of the year for me and I really appreciate the split screen TV.

Have a bunch of mates and family over and bet on horses, rugby, cycling and whatever else we can until we all collapse - a great day!

I agree 100% with Hukky. The British Lions tour ends with the last test on July 4 at Ellis Park. The Durban July should obviously have been scheduled for the following week.

I'm sure it was an oversight but Gold Circle have taken their eye off the ball. The Lions tour dates have been set for over a year and it will be the biggest sporting occasion of the year.


Its simply not even a contest in respect of where the public's interest will lie. I wonder if they can change the dates, would pushing the meeting out by a week make any difference? I would think with 6 weeks to go logistical problems could be ironed out...

The July is always on the first Saturday of July. I therefore think the Lions Tour dates should have been changed. They are obviously thinking that there are not many fans who are equally fanatical about horse-racing and rugby and therefore torn between what to watch

Why bother to watch either as both are already forgone conclusions. Pocket Power will cruise home and the Boks will be 2-0 up going into the match.

Seeing that the July is always on the first Saturday of July, why should racing give in to the rugby??? Poor organisation i think - hope it doesn't effect the turn out at Greyville!!! Surley they could've moved the rugby to the following Saturday...

There just shouldn't be such a conflict betwwen 2 sports - how can you expect to promote a particular sport when both are huge sporting fixtues that take place at the same time...

Unfortunately i see racing coming off second best in this instance.

The IRB arn't going to reschedule the international fixture list, Lions Tour and what could be the biggest test match of the year due to a local race meeting. Nevermind tv rights, flights, hotels and that it's proabably far easier to reschedule the racing.

So its pretty obvious why racing should give in to the rugby.

I gather Mr Nandos above won't be watching the rugby or the racing that day!

It's not obvious at all why the July should lose its traditional spot for a rugby match. It will perhaps be a different story with the World Cup next year. FIFA regulations against clashes with other major events may force a change to the July date.