South African sports stuff: Follow @GPAG_sports!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d....

South African sports stuff: Follow @GPAG_sports!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d....: Follow @GPAG_sports

This morning England’s care taker coach Stuart Lancaster announced his side for the upcoming six nations, and their Calcutta cup clash with Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday. The big news as far as South Africans are concerned is the inclusion of Brad Barrit the Durban boy who played for the sharks not so long ago. In fact at the ripe old age of 25 and some surplus days Barrit has only been playing for his current club Saracens since 2008. This raises that age old question of re-patriotising players for the sake of sport. South Africa has over the years released an incredible amount of players that have chosen another country to represent on a national scale. During the Apartheid years this decision was as much a political one as a personal one and the context of the day made those decisions somewhat different from more contemporary examples. As South Africans, Kevin Pietersen’s decision to play for England is a favourite point of contention because of his intolerable arrogance, and people like to say he should have waited his turn. Maybe, maybe not. I don’t think Pietersen, in his current form or even in the form he was in 4 years ago, would have been good enough to gain him a place in the South African side. And this I feel is the central point, why shouldn’t players be allowed to seek their fortunes else ware if they don’t realistically have a chance in the nation of their birth. I don’t think I could see Barrit being better Jaque Fourie, Juan de Jong, Jean de Villiers or even Wynand Olivier, and that does not even include the other savoir from Bethlehem Frans Steyn (because I think he should be at fullback). Players need to think realistically about their futures in the world of professional sport because it is a career now, albeit one with early retirement benefits. Money is beginning to talk in world rugby the way it does in Football (the real one where you have to use your feet to play the ball!). The Equatorial Guinea team in the current AFCON is re-patriotised they are a country so small that if they can produce one world class footballer a generation, they would still have to rely on people from other nations to make up the other 22 spots in the squad. With a population of less than 700 000 their sporting hopes rely on other players wanting to live in their country and so they pay players very well. I believe in south Africa we offer allot of reasons for people to come and live and play in SA, Imran Tahir obviously agrees, and our domestic cricket scene is beginning to attract some world class players. I know they are only coming to play some hack and slash for 40 overs as mercenaries but it will improve the perception of South Africa as a place to come and build your career, or even end it. More and more we are seeing rugby players travel around the world building themselves retirement plans with 60 minutes of rugby payed for with Euros. It is sad to lose Brad but I think I’m happy to see him play for England I only fear that when Tuilagi comes back from injury he may lose his place, and if you only get 1 test cap it probably wasn’t a good choice.

What to do about the super kings?

With the announcement that the eastern cape based super kings will replace the team that finishes bottom of the South African conference in this year’s Super 15 many people are saying "it's about time" while many others are asking "are they ready?" and I am not worried because it will be for only 1 season. Let us be honest the 2013 wooden spoon will have the Super Kings’ name on it before the halfway point of the season because they will lack the players. I am not detracting from the hard work and dedication shown by the Watsons and De Wet Barry who have taken the team forward by leaps and bounds but the simple truth is that no one will want to sign for perennial relegation candidates. Without a lower league to fall back on players from the lions and cheetahs will automatically sign for one of the three top unions if their team is relegated rather than signing for the kings because who wants to move their family around the country year after year. I feel I must ask whether or not the Eastern Cape rugby union is even aware of the dangers of entering the toughest domestic rugby league in the world? Well if not I will tell them: Fans hate to lose when a team loses fans stay away from the ground, ask the Lions they know and so do their accountants and lawyers and the banks whose loans they are defaulting on. Fans are also fickle, so win a few games and they will start to come back but sponsors are less loyal, and once again it will all be about accountants and lawyers scrapping over empty coffers. Finally underdog stories only end happily in the movies when up against the power of the Bulls the class of the Crusaders or the flair of the Stormers I can’t see even the most in form Super Kings team doing the business, and that means relegation. Patience is the key to developing rugby in the Eastern Cape, not because the players are not there but because the will to play in the Eastern Cape is not there. Even with some of the best rugby schools in the country based in the area the EP union has not made it to top flight Currie cup rugby because the future stars would rather play in unions that are already established. Making the EP team a super rugby franchise will not increase its stature or convince young guns that Port Elizabeth is the place where they want to stay it will simply put an end to the calls for an extra super rugby spot. So are there alternatives? Yes! There are always alternatives and the first step should be making the Mighty Elephants a competitive team. This is not an impossible task because we have seen the success of Griquas rugby over the last 5 years as they have improved in stature and league position consistently. This has in part been through the partnership they have with the Cheetahs and through the development of players who found themselves out of favour at the bigger unions. The EP rugby board need these kinds of partnerships first to build a team from the bottom up. We say you must learn to walk before you can run, but this is a case of learning how to bind before you try to scrum.

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Afcon 2012

The group stages are done and the quarter finalists are decided! with Senegal and Morocco out only three sides seem to have the quality to win. Of course the star studded Ivory Coast and Ghanaian sides are in with a chance but co-hosts Gabon seem to be thriving off the home advantage and have secured themselves knockout games in their back yard. Tunisia have a strong team but a lack of attacking strength makes them a long odds dark horse and who knows what the giant killing equatorial guinea side can produce. I think for the sake of neutral football lovers like myself the prospect of an Ivorian, Ghanaian final is mouth watering, but who doesn't love an underdog story and Zambia might just have enough to pull off a couple of upsets. Once we get down to knockout football, history means nothing because you have to win 3 games to lift the trophy and so all that matters is the performance on the day. Having said that my head says its the big players who win those games, the men who can handle the pressure and slot the important chances because so often you only get 1. So then we look to Drogba,  Gyan, Chansa and Kieta to see who will make the difference for their teams. This is the biggest prize in African football and even if some of the giants of Africa are missing it is still a difficult competition to win.