A new rugby franchise will be launched in June for the Eastern Cape, being a joint venture between the Eastern Province and Border Rugby Unions in consultation and with the backing of the South African Rugby Union with the aim to join Super Rugby.

The new franchise will be launched in Port Elizabeth on June 16/17 to coincide with the presence of the British & Irish Lions in the city for a match against a Coastal XV. The date of the match against the Lions is expected to be confirmed shortly.

The meeting was chaired by Mark Alexander, the deputy president of SARU, and attended by Cheeky Watson, the president of Eastern Province, SARU president Oregan Hoskins, SARU vice-president Rautie Rautenbach and Andy Marinos, acting managing director of SA Rugby.

“It was an extremely positive meeting and there was broad agreement on the way forward,” said Mr Alexander. “All parties see the proper placing and establishment of sound structures as a key priority to ensure the success of the South Eastern Cape franchise.

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Former Stormers and Western Province player and current Saracens scrumhalf Neil de Kock won’t visit Newlands on the 25th January because of a broken arm.
“Neil will be out of action for ten weeks. It’s a huge blow for us. He’s a very important player in our side,” said Eddie Jones, Saracens director of rugby.
Saracens thrashed Bristol 37-13 on Sunday and are now sixth on the English log.
Former Wallaby coach Jones said there was a strong possibility that ex-Springbok tighthead prop Cobus Visagie would play for Saracens against the Stormers.
Visagie was a pillar of strength for the Stormers and Western Province for years before his decision to move to England.
He is now in the twilight of his career as player and is assisting with the coaching of Saracens’ forwards.
He was used as a substitute against Bristol and is still a powerful scrummager.
“Cobus is likely to be involved,” said Jones.
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Speculation in the media this weekend that Heyneke Meyer might be linked for a position at the Eastern Cape Super 14 franchise the Southern Spears is nothing more than premature speculation.

Weekend reports suggested that Meyer was being considered for the position of Director of Rugby for the franchise formerly known as the Southern Spears.

However, this has been dismissed as “premature speculation” by a source close to Meyer, who said the coach will not make a decision about his future until his current situation is resolved.

Meyer returned to South Africa during the busy United Kingdom festive season because of serious family illness.

In a media release at the time the Board of Leicester Tigers said it respects Meyer’s position and the club offers him and his family its full support.

“The extent of his absence will be assessed over the next two weeks and kept under review,” the statement said.

Meyer’s future at Tigers was thrown further in doubt after club chairman Peter Tom confirmed that he was unsure when, or if, the South African would be returning. Tom, at the time, suggested that Meyer would not be back before February at the very earliest.

The Leicester chairman, Tom, conceded the situation “put a doubt” over Meyer continuing with the club which he only joined before the start of this season following the departure of former Argentina coach Marcelo Loffreda.

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The Lions of Gauteng have received a very favourable draw for the Super 14 season, but the hard working captain Cobus Grobbelaar does not see this as automatic success.

“The Lions, and their Super 12 predecessors the Cats, have not finished inside the top 10 since 2001 – the last of their two appearances in the play-offs. And a 14th-place finish last year still rankles with the Johannesburg-based franchise.

And they could not have wished for a more favourable draw – their first six matches in South Africa, including facing the Cheetahs, Bulls, Brumbies and Hurricanes on home turf in Johannesburg.

Their other matches on South African soil are against the Sharks (in Durban) and the Stormers (in Cape Town), venues where they’ve had success in the past.

“Yes, we certainly do have a favourable draw,” says Grobbelaar.

“It definitely is better, but it is always in your own hands – we still have to make it happen.

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The Stormers‘ run of good form at the end of last year’s Super 14 have given the Stormers and their captain Jean de Villiers alot of confidence nearing this year’s campaign.

“De Villiers, 2008′s South African Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year, highlighted the importance of home victories in the Super 14 and says the Stormers are perfectly placed to build on the winning culture they created at Newlands in the latter stages of the 2008 season.

“When we came back from the overseas leg we did not lose a match at Newlands.

“We also won every game in the Currie Cup with our strongest team for Western Province. So it does give us a lot of confidence,” he said.

De Villiers was the Stormers’ star player in 2008, which was also his first season as captain. He then starred in the Boks’ Tri-Nations campaign and led Western Province in the Currie Cup before the Boks’ year-end tour.

With the British & Irish Lions series looming, De Villiers is among a core group of Springboks that needs to be carefully managed.

However, the 27-year-old says he won’t be asking for any sabbaticals in this year’s southern hemisphere showpiece.

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Stormers and Springbok loose forward Luke Watson escaped unhurt from a light accident in Bellville on Monday afternoon.
Watson’s black BMW was damaged, however, after another motorist allegedly skipped a red light and hit the front left of the Springbok’s car. Stormers spokesperson Frikkie Erasmus confirmed the incident.

“Nobody has been hurt. The front of Luke’s car has been damaged. There were some surprised onlookers when they saw Luke and some of his teammates at the scene,” said Erasmus.
Watson was calm afterwards and relieved that his car had not been reduced to a wreck.

“The person drove over a red light. It was at the intersection of Jip de Jager Lane and Voortrekker Street. My teammates teased me as they came past,” said Watson.

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The Merit Panel of Referees to be in charge of next year’s Super 14 matches has been chosen on Monday. SANZAR is looking to use the same system in future test matches.
“It means referees will no longer be prevented from refereeing their countrymen in opposition to another nation. The move was made to ensure the best players would be refereed by the best officials.

The move to have a similar Merit Panel in charge of Test matches could be trialled next year during the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa.

The panels are:

SANZAR Super 14 Merit panel: Stuart Dickinson (Australia), Matt Goddard (Australia), Marius Jonker (South Africa), Craig Joubert (South Africa), Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand), Mark Lawrence (South Africa), James Leckie (Australia), Steve Walsh (New Zealand).

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