2006/03/27 12:00:00 AM

Spears seek chance to plead their case before SA Rugby

Zeena Isaacs

Rugby Correspondent

SOUTHERN Spears CEO Tony McKeever yesterday sent a letter to the chairman of SA Rugby’s board of directors, Dolf van Huyssteen, requesting that they allow the Spears to present their case before the board makes a decision on their future.

SA Rugby is the commercial arm of the South African Rugby Union (Saru).

The request follows the decision by Saru’s presidents’ council last Friday that the board of directors should establish an inquiry to investigate the “viability” and “state of readiness” of the Spears to take part in next year’s Super 14 competition.

It was recommended the promotion-relegation issue, which would have affected the five franchises participating in this year’s series (in which the team that finishes in the lowest position on the log table be dropped from next year’s competition to make way for the Spears), should be scrapped this season.

However, McKeever defended the Spears’ poor performance in their warm-up games against the Cheetahs and Stormers Super 14 franchises earlier this year saying those teams were ready for battle in the competition, while the Spears had been together for only a month.

Commenting on the letter he had sent to Van Huyssteen, McKeever said: “We suggested to the board that they allow us to make a presentation to them and have a debriefing session (tomorrow) or Wednesday before they make a decision on the franchise and reach a point of no return. We have a remedy in place and the board needs to understand that we have legal obligations to our sponsors.”

McKeever defended suggestions that the R3m SA Rugby gave to the Spears in December to develop the franchise was already used up and said the franchise had signed a declaration that it would be able to fund itself by next month.

He said although the funds given to the franchise were vital in sustaining it up to now, it was only a fraction of the amount franchises such as the Stormers worked on each year to pay the players’ salaries alone.

The latest developments regarding the Spears Super 14 franchise suggests that the odds are stacked heavily against the team participating in the competition in the next two years.

A statement released by Saru after the meeting said: “Either way, we are committed to helping them (the Spears) make it into the big league - whether they take part in the Sanzar tournament now or later.

“The inquiry will help us make an informed decision on the way forward for the Spears.”

Sanzar is the governing body of the Super 14 competition.

McKeever, however, made it clear earlier this month that if Saru backtracked on its decision for the franchise to take part in next year’s competition, they would take the matter to court where they will request that the agreement - which was ratified by SA Rugby’s board of directors - be enforced.

However, Saru legal affairs GM Christo Ferreira said the board of directors had the authority to overturn the decision.

Other decisions made at the presidents’ council meeting at the weekend were that four senior Saru members would meet the Sports Ministry to discuss the way forward regarding the investigation of former Saru president Brian van Rooyen into charges of mismanagement.

It was decided that the contentious issue of Test match allocation would remain as previously agreed to.