"It is and has always been the objective of EP Rugby to bring Super 15 rugby to the Eastern Cape," EPRU president Cheeky Watson said in a statement last night.
He was commenting on news reports that rugby administrators in the province had agreed to forgo their right to admission to Super 15 rugby next year by accepting a multi-million rand payoff and inclusion only in 2016.
The impasse among the five South African franchises competition in the Super 15 competition was created when the South African Rugby Union (Saru) announced at the beginning of this season that the Southern Kings would compete in the competition from 2013. This was unanimously agreed to by all 14 representatives of the Saru general council, including the five franchise unions.
Saru president Oregon Hoskins said at the time that the Eastern Cape was the cradle of black rugby in South Africa and the one way to bring about transformation in rugby was to grant Super 15 rugby status to the region, thereby ensuring black players could aspire to the highest levels of provincial rugby in their own province. Since then there has been speculation as to how the Southern Kings would be accommodated in the Super 15 competition, including the axing of the bottom placed SA franchise, the Lions.
“The report that we have agreed to accept R40-million and will forgo our right to inclusion in the Super 15 rugby competition until 2016 is news to me,” Watson said.
“We have said that we are prepared to negotiate the best way for the Southern Kings to enter the Super 15 competition, but these details have never been on the table.
“What we are doing is finding a formula that is acceptable to all parties. There are various permutations that we are discussing and I cannot comment any further until we have agreed on a structure to bring Super 15 rugby to the Eastern Cape.
“Any further comment must come from Saru,” Watson said.
Meanwhile, the EP Kings made it three wins out of three in this year's Absa Currie Cup First Division as they beat the Valke 37-20 in their Absa Currie Cup first division clash in Kempton Park on Saturday. The Kings are second on the log behind the Griffons who have the extra bonus point and who also made it three out of three on Saturday with a hard-fought 29-24 win over the Border Bulldogs in Welkom.
