So the WPRFU woke up today and issued a statement with regard to the hosting of Heineken Cup match between Saracens and Biarritz in Cape Town next January …
Saracens told Die Burger (and thus Sport24) that the game would be taking place on January the 14th at the Cape Town stadium, with ticket sales having already begun … BUT …
“The WPRFU Executive Committee decided that the home of rugby, Newlands, would stage this historic match. According to the South African Rugby Union Constitution the final decision regarding the match venue lies in the hands of the host union.
The Committee unanimously agreed that Newlands is currently the home of rugby in the Western Province, and will be treated as such for the foreseeable future. Newlands is one of the oldest rugby stadia in the world, with excellent facilities and currently boasts some of the highest attendance levels in world rugby.
The decision to agree to the hosting of the match at Newlands was made in the best interests of WP Rugby and once again shows loyalty to its suite holders and fans who regularly attend matches at Newlands” said the WPRFU statement …
So instead of listening to the people (tweeters, bloggers, friends and Sport24 commenters welcomed the idea of a balmy summer evening visit to the new stadium to take in some pre- season rugby), WP have called on the draconian amateur era law in the SARU Constitution that gives them the final decision regarding the staging of the game, to stay in the dark ages and play the game at Newlands.
And this “Home of Rugby” spin is not worth the bandwidth it uses … WP saw that tickets sales were brisk, took into the account that they were to again only get a shoddy Argentinean Test in 2012 (good on SARU for giving Tests to the unions using the new stadia), and hauled out the old “Loyalty to suite holders” line …
Loyalty, my butt … Without this game, suite holders will rightfully start questioning the reason they actually have suits in the dank old dame of rugby …
Speaking of the commercial side of the game … A quick look at the official Heineken Cup website confirms not only the green beer as a top tier tournament partner, but also courier company FedEx. Last time I looked, not much of Newlands had been left untouched by the Red and Yellow paintbrush brought in to appease new sponsors DHL … And as the official beer partner at newlands, Castle owns most of the said leftover space …
Good luck providing a clean stadium (free of any advertising) …
Yes I know the union owns Newlands, and I know they have 300 hundred revenue generating suites that the Cape Town stadium lacks, but this so called home of rugby needs to have a view of the ocean … Along with ample parking, access to the fanwalk and waterfront, good public transport, fantastic facilities, awesome lighting, and the many, many other things that come with a world class structure built less than 18 months go …
As they say in the clichés … Where there is a will, there is a way … And instead of will, I see spitefulness …
Saracens could easily just walk away from this deal, meaning that no money (or goodwill) comes in at all (talk about cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face), but in a way, I hope Johan Rupert decides that Edward Griffiths should see this one all the way to court. This is an amateur era rule that needs challenging …
What a pathetic lot. All valid (legally) reasons for making the decision but they should have risen above all the crap. One of my favourite quotes applies here: “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less!”
If i was Saracens and Biarritz I’d approach FNB stadium or Moses Mabida to host the game since WP is full of crap.
I have a strange feeling this is going to bite WP in the ass
Bah, while the decision is a daft one, so if the concept of playing the game there in the first place. If Saracens want to be play in the Super15 or however many it would be, let them move to the Southern Hemisphere.