OMEN
04-14-2006, 08:56 PM
Port Elizabeth - The other five Super 14 franchises in South Africa are not playing the game, says the Southern Spears whose place in next year's competition seems to be in jeopardy.
The Spears have released a report showing how other Super 14 teams have "robbed" the Eastern Cape of top players.
The report claims that 14 of the 31 black players now playing for the five other South African Super 14 teams - almost enough to field a whole team - hail from the Eastern Cape.
According to the report Spears completely outstrip all the other Super 14 franchises in terms of the number of black players. Overall, only 20% of Super 14 players in the five teams are black, compared with 71% of the Spears players.
The release of the report comes amid an investigation by SA Rugby into the Spears' readiness for the 2007 contest after the other teams attempted to back out of an agreement allowing the South/Eastern Cape franchise to take the place of the weakest 2006 team.
The Spears management said its team profile more than matched the demographic makeup of South Africa and that this indicated an ongoing commitment to transformation in the sport - which other regions did not have.
Transformation charter
Seventeen out of the 24 players in the Spears squad are black.
The franchise with the next highest number of black players is the Sharks. Of the 29 players playing for the Sharks, eight are black. The Stormers have seven in their 28-man squad, the Bulls have six from 28, and the Cats have six from 27. The Cheetahs have four players out of 27.
The size of squads varies because of injury and a clause which says that although teams must have squads of 30 players, they need only register a minimum of 28 players.
In a paper drawn up by SA Rugby in July last year, the four principles for franchise award are spelt out. Among these are that each franchise must "recognise present rugby demographics in SA and underline the transformation charter and player development".
Spears' chief executive Tony McKeever said the report showed that the franchise had more than met all the requirements set for it by SA Rugby when it was created.
When Saru created the Spears in June last year, one of the key motivating factors was to speed up the transformation of rugby in the Super 14 because the South/Eastern Cape is the home of black rugby.
Responding to the Spears report, SA Rugby deputy chief executive Mveleli Ncula said SA Rugby was "definitely not happy with certain teams" and the number of black players they were selecting.
He said the provincial rugby presidents, chief executives, representatives of the SA Rugby Players' Association and senior SA Rugby staff would meet on April 19 to discuss the proposed transformation charter.
News24
The Spears have released a report showing how other Super 14 teams have "robbed" the Eastern Cape of top players.
The report claims that 14 of the 31 black players now playing for the five other South African Super 14 teams - almost enough to field a whole team - hail from the Eastern Cape.
According to the report Spears completely outstrip all the other Super 14 franchises in terms of the number of black players. Overall, only 20% of Super 14 players in the five teams are black, compared with 71% of the Spears players.
The release of the report comes amid an investigation by SA Rugby into the Spears' readiness for the 2007 contest after the other teams attempted to back out of an agreement allowing the South/Eastern Cape franchise to take the place of the weakest 2006 team.
The Spears management said its team profile more than matched the demographic makeup of South Africa and that this indicated an ongoing commitment to transformation in the sport - which other regions did not have.
Transformation charter
Seventeen out of the 24 players in the Spears squad are black.
The franchise with the next highest number of black players is the Sharks. Of the 29 players playing for the Sharks, eight are black. The Stormers have seven in their 28-man squad, the Bulls have six from 28, and the Cats have six from 27. The Cheetahs have four players out of 27.
The size of squads varies because of injury and a clause which says that although teams must have squads of 30 players, they need only register a minimum of 28 players.
In a paper drawn up by SA Rugby in July last year, the four principles for franchise award are spelt out. Among these are that each franchise must "recognise present rugby demographics in SA and underline the transformation charter and player development".
Spears' chief executive Tony McKeever said the report showed that the franchise had more than met all the requirements set for it by SA Rugby when it was created.
When Saru created the Spears in June last year, one of the key motivating factors was to speed up the transformation of rugby in the Super 14 because the South/Eastern Cape is the home of black rugby.
Responding to the Spears report, SA Rugby deputy chief executive Mveleli Ncula said SA Rugby was "definitely not happy with certain teams" and the number of black players they were selecting.
He said the provincial rugby presidents, chief executives, representatives of the SA Rugby Players' Association and senior SA Rugby staff would meet on April 19 to discuss the proposed transformation charter.
News24