THURSDAY, 10.00AM:
FOUR of the country’s provincial rugby clubs want a special meeting with the South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) to object to a proposal by the Sarfu chief executive last Friday.
The union presidents of Natal, Free State and Western Province met in Durban on Wednesday to discuss Rian Oberholzer’s proposal that next year’s Super 12 competition entries consist of four regional sides, instead of provinces.
Oberholzer suggested the four sides will take in players from all 14 rugby unions and the proposal was passed by a majority vote.
“We fully support any structures which enable the country’s best players to participate in the Super 12. But we cannot support Oberholzer’s proposal in its present form. One of the adverse spinoffs is that it has an unacceptable impact on each union’s sponsors, which can only cause all sorts of problems for everyone down the road,” said Natal’s Keith Parkinson.
The four provinces are not against having the country’s best given a chance in the Super 12, but say there are many flaws in Oberholzer’s proposal. Northern Transvaal was not represented in the meeting on Wednesday, but fully supports the initiative of the other three povinces.