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JJ Harmse
Something did not feel right when the “bigger, better, longer” expanded Super 15, sorry Vodacom Super Rugby series, was launched in Midrand during the week.
Maybe it was because of the way SuperSport ‘hijacked’ the event, with print media from all the media houses in the country being invited only to find themselves forced spectators to an hour long live broadcast.
Maybe it was seeing both Ross Skeate, representing the Sharks and Anton van Zyl, there on behalf of the Stormers, carrying the proof of what continuous professional rugby can do to a fit athlete’s body. Both had arms in some sort of a cast and a sling and will not be part of the action when it starts next weekend.
But no, it wasn’t that.
Neither was it the insistence from SuperSport’s Xola Ntsinga and Owen Nkumane and that very funny and entertaining MC, Greame Joffe, that the Lions will be the next big thing in Super Rugby this year.
It wasn’t that either.
Then I realised what it was. While chatting to Lions CEO, Manie Reyneke, about the good fortunes they are having on the sponsorship front and seeing Juan Smith across the room, it struck me.
It was not right that everyone rocks up to a launch, splashing out money and time to host a show in Midrand (that could just as well have been hosted by SuperSport from their own offices in Randburg) and one team still does not have a sponsor.
SuperSport, to their credit, stayed with the Cheetahs as sponsor, but Vodacom decided to pull out of their Cheetahs and Stormers deals.
It is their good right of course to use their money the way they see fit and if it wasn’t for a decision by the regulatory body Icasa to cut interconnection fees, Vodacom probably would have remained the most influential contributor to our game, as they have been for so many years.
But this is not about the do’s or do not’s of Vodacom, but about the fact that the Cheetahs are still without a sponsor. And in dire straits.
Take yourselves back a couple of years and how hard the Cheetahs fought to be included in the expanded Super 14 series.
Back then, they had massive claims to be included by dominating the Currie Cup, but a political decision and false promises by SARU to include the Southern Spears for the expanded competition, defied belief and logic, seemingly paving the way for the Eastern Cape team to be included.
Luckily the Cheetahs prevailed and became our fifth team, but five years later they are in the doldrums again.
The Spears, now called the Kings, in anticipation of being included in Super 16 in the next version of the competition, are getting grants from SARU and the Eastern Cape government at the moment, and because of that, they are attracting high profiled players, with Luke Watson a good example.
But the Cheetahs, although they have not covered themselves in glory in Super 14, are seemingly out of pocket.
Money is tight all over, but how it is possible that the Cheetahs cannot attract a suitable sponsor?
They have a decent following all around the country, will fill at least 70% of their stadium with the derby games and have consistently produced new Springboks in the last couple of years. Think Adriaan Strauss, Coenie Oosthuizen, Wian du Preez and Jongi Nokwe.
I don’t even want to go into their role of nursery to the rest of the country, but that remains the crux of the matter.
For me and many people who care about the franchise representing clubs from Springbok to Sasolburg, their role in the dynamics of the South African rugby landscape cannot be ignored or denied.
Surely there must be someone out there who is appreciative of the fact that, at one stage during our November tour last year, something like 10 players in the match 22 for the Springboks, went to school in the Free State and Bloemfontein.
It baffles me that someone or something who gives so much to our national cause, have to beg for something as straight forward as a sponsorship.
It escapes me why someone would not want to be associated with that fine rugby team called the Cheetahs?
Read JJ every Sunday in Rapport.
Disclaimer: Sport24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on Sport24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sport24.
Something did not feel right when the “bigger, better, longer” expanded Super 15, sorry Vodacom Super Rugby series, was launched in Midrand during the week.
Maybe it was because of the way SuperSport ‘hijacked’ the event, with print media from all the media houses in the country being invited only to find themselves forced spectators to an hour long live broadcast.
Maybe it was seeing both Ross Skeate, representing the Sharks and Anton van Zyl, there on behalf of the Stormers, carrying the proof of what continuous professional rugby can do to a fit athlete’s body. Both had arms in some sort of a cast and a sling and will not be part of the action when it starts next weekend.
But no, it wasn’t that.
Neither was it the insistence from SuperSport’s Xola Ntsinga and Owen Nkumane and that very funny and entertaining MC, Greame Joffe, that the Lions will be the next big thing in Super Rugby this year.
It wasn’t that either.
Then I realised what it was. While chatting to Lions CEO, Manie Reyneke, about the good fortunes they are having on the sponsorship front and seeing Juan Smith across the room, it struck me.
It was not right that everyone rocks up to a launch, splashing out money and time to host a show in Midrand (that could just as well have been hosted by SuperSport from their own offices in Randburg) and one team still does not have a sponsor.
SuperSport, to their credit, stayed with the Cheetahs as sponsor, but Vodacom decided to pull out of their Cheetahs and Stormers deals.
It is their good right of course to use their money the way they see fit and if it wasn’t for a decision by the regulatory body Icasa to cut interconnection fees, Vodacom probably would have remained the most influential contributor to our game, as they have been for so many years.
But this is not about the do’s or do not’s of Vodacom, but about the fact that the Cheetahs are still without a sponsor. And in dire straits.
Take yourselves back a couple of years and how hard the Cheetahs fought to be included in the expanded Super 14 series.
Back then, they had massive claims to be included by dominating the Currie Cup, but a political decision and false promises by SARU to include the Southern Spears for the expanded competition, defied belief and logic, seemingly paving the way for the Eastern Cape team to be included.
Luckily the Cheetahs prevailed and became our fifth team, but five years later they are in the doldrums again.
The Spears, now called the Kings, in anticipation of being included in Super 16 in the next version of the competition, are getting grants from SARU and the Eastern Cape government at the moment, and because of that, they are attracting high profiled players, with Luke Watson a good example.
But the Cheetahs, although they have not covered themselves in glory in Super 14, are seemingly out of pocket.
Money is tight all over, but how it is possible that the Cheetahs cannot attract a suitable sponsor?
They have a decent following all around the country, will fill at least 70% of their stadium with the derby games and have consistently produced new Springboks in the last couple of years. Think Adriaan Strauss, Coenie Oosthuizen, Wian du Preez and Jongi Nokwe.
I don’t even want to go into their role of nursery to the rest of the country, but that remains the crux of the matter.
For me and many people who care about the franchise representing clubs from Springbok to Sasolburg, their role in the dynamics of the South African rugby landscape cannot be ignored or denied.
Surely there must be someone out there who is appreciative of the fact that, at one stage during our November tour last year, something like 10 players in the match 22 for the Springboks, went to school in the Free State and Bloemfontein.
It baffles me that someone or something who gives so much to our national cause, have to beg for something as straight forward as a sponsorship.
It escapes me why someone would not want to be associated with that fine rugby team called the Cheetahs?
Read JJ every Sunday in Rapport.
Disclaimer: Sport24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on Sport24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sport24.
