Fifth South African Super 14 team named

DURBAN - The South African Rugby Union (SARU) has announced that the Central Unions franchise will be its fifth team for the expanded 2006 Super 14 competition.

The Central Unions, which comprises the Free State, Griqualand West and Griffons Rugby unions, is likely to be called the Central Cheetahs.

They were awarded the franchise ahead of the Southern and Eastern Cape delegation, which had the support of the South African sports minister Makhenkesi Stofile.

The four existing teams; the Bulls, the Sharks, the Stormers, the Cats; will continue but will have to utilise players from smaller unions and play some matches away from the main centres in an effort to spread the game.

The five regions will be based in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban and Bloemfontein.

Six franchises originally bid for the five places but the 14 presidents of the SARU member unions and an independent four-man panel decided to incorporate the members of the Southern and Eastern Cape bid into the existing four franchises.

The Southern and Eastern Cape, which comprised three unions, namely Border, Eastern Province and South Western Districts (SWD) was believed to be favoured by the government because of its largely black player base.

Black player representation has been hotly debated in South Africa in recent months and the Southern and Eastern Cape's bid document played heavily on its ability to produce black players and speed up the racial transformation of rugby.

But due to issues such as poor infrastructure and financial mis-management at Eastern Province and Border, the panel and SARU appeared reluctant to award them their own independent franchise.

"What struck the panel was that the Southern and Eastern Cape region represents 43 per cent of registered rugby players in South Africa, in particular black African players," SARU president Brian van Rooyen said.

"Our decision to incorporate the Southern and Eastern Cape will ensure that the transformation objectives of the region will be met in various ways.

"The region will enjoy Super 14 rugby and most importantly at least 20 black African players will gain exposure in the Super 14.

"There will be a moratorium on black African players moving to other regions other than for bona fide or family reasons."

SWD will be linked to the Stormers, Border to the Sharks and Eastern Province to the Bulls.

The regions have 45 days after accepting the offer from SARU to come up with a management plan.

"The purpose of the management plan is to ensure that South African rugby builds and strengthens the capacity of the smaller unions," Van Rooyen said.

"The plans must also ensure that meaningful transformation occurs at management, administrative, coaching, development and player levels."

- REUTERS