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Fans slam 'soft' SARU

Cape Town - Sport24 readers have criticised the South African Rugby Union (SARU) after their apparent u-turn on the number of foreign players allowed by the Kings.

The Kings played Argentinians Tomás Leonardi and Nicolas Vergallo, and New Zealander Hadleigh Parkes against the Chiefs - one more than the two allowed by SARU.

Following media reports that SARU had initiated disciplinary procedures against the Kings for fielding three foreign players, Kings president Cheeky Watson denied that SARU has sent out any such request to them to explain the scenario.

Watson claimed there was a misunderstanding between the Kings and SARU about which players could be utilised.

"We closely followed the media reports and I just want to state that we have not received any official announcement or request from SARU regarding the matter.

"We can only respond once we get that. In the meantime I just want to make it clear that we are a disciplined member of SARU and we will remain exactly that.

"We are not deliberately trying to go against them, but we do feel that the interpretation of the term 'foreign players' is open for debate," said Watson.

But according to Die Burger, inside sources claim that without making it official, SARU has already given the Kings the go-ahead to field their existing foreign players.

This is what Sport24 readers had to say about SARU's u-turn:

"The peasants at SARU can't dictate to the Kings...lol!" - Rodney Louis

"Lol! They don't call him Cheeky for nothing!" - Colin Logie

"Boswell Wilkie would be proud of this circus!" - Jaco Groenewald

"SARU is going to lose the respect of a lot of South African rugby fans if they do not have the guts to stick to their word." - Nigel Vos

"SARU, grow a pair!"
- Chris in Oz

"If SARU had a pair they would insist the Kings get a permanent spot in the competition."
- Andrew Whitehead

"The rules aren't different for the Kings. Watson found a loophole and he's exploiting it." - viwetundube

"Doubt SARU will do anything they don't have the power to deduct points as this is not a SANZAR rule." - Detective Kruger

"This is SARU's fault for letting the Kings know 5 months ahead of the competition and only guaranteeing the Kings one year in Super Rugby."
- Deon Kruger

"It makes sense for SARU to keep the Kings involved in Super Rugby for as long as possible because of the interest they generate and money they make." - DK

"The Kings are not breaking SARU's rules so I don't see what the big fuss is."
- Adriaan Snyman

"Easy to be clever with the support of SARU puppets!"
- Ivan Marsh

"SARU = spineless cancer eating away at our rugby."
- Luke Sportify

"What's SARU going to do? Kick them out...Pfffttt...The whole lot of SARU is laughable..." - The_Devil's_Advocate

"SARU implemented the rule, the rule was broken so now they have to face the consequences. If SARU doesn't take any action, they make a fool of themselves" - Steven Ezekiel Voogel

Has SARU lost credibility with the foreign player saga? Send your thoughts to Sport24.
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