Lions might break away

[Xmailer9]

Hearing through the grapevine, the Lions might be planning to join the Amlin Cup, and then when promoted, the Heineken Cup. This is if they are to make way for the Kings. And if they are accepted over there.

Also, a while back SARU threatened to break away from SANZAR because NZ and AUS always serve their own interests. And joining Europe might be the solution.

So, what do you think about a move to Europe and joining their competitions ? Wether it be the Lions or even all our teams ?

[Devill]

Hearing through the grapevine, the Lions might be planning to join the Amlin Cup, and then when promoted, the Heineken Cup. This is if they are to make way for the Kings. And if they are accepted over there.

Also, a while back SARU threatened to break away from SANZAR because NZ and AUS always serve their own interests. And joining Europe might be the solution.

So, what do you think about a move to Europe and joining their competitions ? Wether it be the Lions or even all our teams ?

Logistical nightmare but the time difference would be less of a pain.

If the lions are dropped from Super Rugby I will be happy for them if they can make this happen.

[rakabos3]

SA teams join a second tier competition? NO THANKS

[sand_man]

Could be a lucrative move for the Lions, more lucrative than staying home doing nothing from next year onwards. Would be interesting to see how competitive they would be....

On the other hand what of the cost of relocating the entire Lions squad to UK for 3 months of the year??? mmmmm, as Devill mentioned logistical nightmare...

[Xmailer9]

Well, i think the idea is for the Lions to play home games in JHB, thus the European teams play their away games at Ellispark.

[McGuywer]

SA teams join a second tier competition? NO THANKS

Agreed. Hopefully it does not come down to this.

[Devill]

Well, i think the idea is for the Lions play home games in JHB, thus those teams come play here on their away games at Ellispark.

Yes, that will still be a nightmare.

It is the same as when SA was screwed in the tri nations as NZ hopped over for their vs AUS games but we traveled 16 (?) hours on average....

[Xmailer9]

well, lets see what happens.

at least there will be minimal jetlag :D

[BeVonk!]

This will be the best thing ever. Europe is where our teams should play and the Lions will take the lead. Many Saffas in Europe will support them and it need not be a logistical nightmare as the Lions will also get home games. European teams will want to come to SA especially as it will be in their winter. European players can then also play for Lions. The sooner this happens the better. Bring it on!

[BeVonk!]

Gatvol of superugby. Let NZ and Australia play Japanese teams. We belong in European league. Our time zone, more money, more sponsorship interest. Kings was stupid not to go for this. Lions, if they have the guts for such a bold move, will do well.

[Xmailer9]

Agreed. :cool:

[Devill]

Gatvol of superugby. Let NZ and Australia play Japanese teams. We belong in European league. Our time zone, more money, more sponsorship interest. Kings was stupid not to go for this. Lions, if they have the guts for such a bold move, will do well.

No thank you. I like the Southern Hemp rugby.

If the lions are booted from the S15 I will happely watch them play in the Northen Hemp rugby comps :)

[Xmailer9]

Gatvol of superugby. Let NZ and Australia play Japanese teams. We belong in European league. Our time zone, more money, more sponsorship interest. Kings was stupid not to go for this. Lions, if they have the guts for such a bold move, will do well.

SANZAR made the massive mistake of making the SR comp so long. Rugby needs to stay fresh to stay entertaining and keep the interest. They made the opposite. And as usual our teams are paying for it.

[GreGorGy]

I'd go for this, actually. Another thing that I think should be considered is the progress that the Lions make overseas. If they play and do well at Heineken cup, eventually, it paves the way for rugby to expand beyond our NZ-A "partners" and may even provide some leverage in negotiations at a later stage.

[BeVonk!]

Also note that Amlin Cup is a damn good competition and more than just "B" league. The HC teams parachute down to Amlin Cup as they get knocked out. The semis are played between some very strong teams this year. Ideal place for Lions. Winner of Amlin Cup gets HC place next year.

[BeVonk!]

SARU caused all the Kings headaches so they can pay whatever it will cost Lions to play in Europe. Lions will then solve SARU's problem for them. Lions should offer to abandon S15 in exchange for SARU fin support to play in Europe. Bokke will benefit as players will be available for selection that are used to European conditions. Lions will retain players as it will be attractive to play in Europe.

[Xmailer9]

Don't forget, some of our teams have toured to England for pre-Super12/Super14 clashes. So, we have some experience playing their teams, and they were in a sense open to playing our teams. It might help our argument, or it might not. But they have been accepting in playing our teams. We need to see if they will go beyond that.

[MickeyD]

S15 is too big, too long and too stale. It is also impacting negatively on international rugby tours.

It should revert to the Super10. 3 top finishers in each provincial competition plus 1. This 1 could wither be an Argentinian side or there could be a 3-way play off for the 10th spot.

Fewer provincial games and more international games. It is time we undertook proper LONG tours, e.g. France, Italy, the UK, etc.

[BeVonk!]

I also wish we could see proper long tours return. Tri Nations is rubbish. S15 is rubbish. Who still cares who wins these tournaments? Not me. Kings should never have bothered with S15 and Lions should jump ship as soon as European option looks viable. They can take Griquas, Boland and other teams with them to Europe and let the old dogs fight it out for a title losing its lustre faster than a Harley runs out of gas.

[BeVonk!]

I really don't care for Ozzie and NZ regional teams. I would far rather see top European clubs play our teams. See the Saffas playing for European teams play against our teams. Fresh. Heck man, someone must make this happen sooner rather than later.

[sand_man]

Super rugby was awesome until they changed the format. This emphasis on home derbies is a load of crap, cause watching NZ and Aussie teams contest their respective "home derbies" has far less appeal for me as a South African spectator and biseversa.

[InternetSwag]

We would destroy every European team. That *** they play up there is pathetic, might as well send out u19 team.

We are rated higher than them for a reason.

[ToxicBunny]

We would destroy every European team. That *** they play up there is pathetic, might as well send out u19 team.

We are rated higher than them for a reason.

I think if we were to play the teams in the Heineken Cup you would be in for a rude awakening with that opinion....

They play bloody good rugby, and its very different from ours.

[InternetSwag]

Yeah I suppose it's true, our baby bok team lost to some European team back at the end of the year tour in 2009.

same ****ers that beat the British & Irish Lions lost to Leicester.

[BeVonk!]

Under European conditions those teams play good rugby. We will not walk over them there. In SA possibly yes. Irish teams are very hard to beat.

[Devill]

It should revert to the Super10. 3 top finishers in each provincial competition plus 1. This 1 could wither be an Argentinian side or there could be a 3-way play off for the 10th spot.


Problem is the Aussies do not have provincial rugby.....

[DJ...]

Good luck to The Lions. It's not like they're contributing anything of importance here, which in itself is a pity. Good to see that even The Lions agree that The Heineken Cup is a league below Super Rugby...:D

[BobsLawnService]

SA teams join a second tier competition? NO THANKS

I agree, I doubt they would be able to compete there either.

[Obronie]

I love this idea, the rugby will be played from November (post CC) up to April in burst. This means having some rugby to watch in the off season. Would be good for Supersport and sponsors. I (Stormer) would definitely root for the SA team and watch your games. Enough flights from Europe to Joburg makes this less a logistical problem. Sure a lot of European players would not mind to much spending some summer time in SA.

Our SANZAR partners will then really take notice of this.

This is the only win win solution I see given that the Kings will play.

[Xmailer9]

Hopefully this move will enable a complete breakaway from SANZAR, and then hopefully the IRB will consider creating an international season for all rugby. instead of deviding it up into two hemispheres.

[GreGorGy]

Hopefully this move will enable a complete breakaway from SANZAR, and then hopefully the IRB will consider creating an international season for all rugby. instead of deviding it up into two hemispheres.

Yes, just imagine:

Elite club league, where clubs across the world compete. Relegation zone is the...
Premier club league, and again across the world. Relegation to...
First division club league...

and eventually the exact same problem as SuperRugby: in the absence of domestic leagues in elite/premier countries, the competition will be redesigned to fill a gap, and we'll be back where we started.

All this crap would go away if the [-]crimina...[/-] Australians were smart enough to make their very own domestic league.

[InternetSwag]

Today I watched some old S14 games from 2 years ago. The Lions lost to the Western Force 55 to 14.

That would not happen today.

What i don't understand is how do the Lions win the Currie Cup but die in the S15.

[sand_man]

They had no team disruptions with players on national duty.

[sand_man]

Historically/logically teams that do well in super 10/12/14/15 will contribute significantly resource wise to the national team.

[Devill]

What i don't understand is how do the Lions win the Currie Cup but die in the S15.

Depth. The Bulls / Stormers / Kind of the sharks have 4 -6 injuries... not such a big problem. the Lions / Cheetahs have 4-6 injuries.... problems.

[NiTeD]

Depth. The Bulls / Stormers / Kind of the sharks have 4 -6 injuries... not such a big problem. the Lions / Cheetahs have 4-6 injuries.... problems.
Or maybe they're just k*k, I bet they would come stone last even in Europe!