Apartheid rugby rebel Cheeky Watson’s bid to take control of EP Rugby has sparked a fresh race debate in the province.
George Davids, president of EP Rugby, told representatives of 52 Eastern Province rugby clubs at the Port Elizabeth campus of Vista University this week that EP Rugby ”cannot allow whites to take control of EP Rugby again”.
He said EP Rugby was the first union in the country to be transformed and taken out of the hands of whites. Now the whites were making a comeback, which had to be stopped.
Watson was chosen to play for the Junior Springboks in 1976, but turned his back on a certain Springbok cap to tour France when he chose to play township rugby under the then South African Rugby Union. He has dismissed all racial allegations against him.
”I have been asked by players, officials and clubs to be prepared to give my time and energy to stop EP Rugby’s slide into oblivion. Together we have formed the Action Group for Saving EP Rugby. We believe it is clear from EP Rugby’s existing executive’s track record that all is not well. We need to make management changes.
”Rugby is not a black, coloured or white sport. Rugby unified our nation when we won the world cup in 1995. I believe it can unify our province when we turn EP Rugby on to a winning streak,” Watson said. — newzwise