Southern Kings boss Cheeky Watson has conceded to the demands of the national union and recalled two of the disputed foreign players from the team’s tour squad.
We reported earlier that SARU Chief Exec Jurie Roux had announced a formal investigation after the Kings fielded three foreigners against the Chiefs last weekend. Whilst SARU’s participation agreement stipulates no more than two foreigners, Watson insists that there has been a genuine misunderstanding concerning whether Argentine players should be considered as foreign for the purposes of Super Rugby.
Watson appears to have had a change of heart, though and has perhaps realised that safeguarding the future of rugby in the Eastern Cape is perhaps more important than winning a personal battle against Roux and SARU. French hooker Virgil Lacombe and Argentine flanker Tomas Leonardi have thus been flown home, with South African replacements in Edgar Marutlulle and Devin Oosthuizen sent over in their stead.
Watson has himself flown to New Zealand to address the squad ahead of the weekend’s crunch encounter with the in-form Crusaders.
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Now why would an Argentine NOT count as a foreigner? I don’t understand this “misunderstanding”..?
En dan mors hy nog geld ook!..
Of course he WOULD HAVE to fly to New Zealand to ‘address’ the team. They gonna get wiped…..badly. If the Crusaders have really found their Mojo, then the Kings will know, they have found Super Rugby.
Crusaders 100 Kings 0, so looking forward to this
@Mutley (Comment 4) : You sound like a broken record.
@Ice (Comment 1) : Same way players from Africa does not count as foreigners.
@Ice (Comment 1) : Same way we have an Argentine team in a domestic South African competition.
So why did Hernandez count as a foreigner in 2009?
On a slightly different tack:
Wikipedia shows Anton Bresler as a Namibian. I know he was born in the old SWA but he went to primary school in Springs and high school in Durban. Anyone know if he is a Namibian citizen or SA citizen?
Same with Jaco Engels of the Kings – born SWA, primary & high school in Potch.
@MysticShark (Comment 7) : Just remember the pampas is not a sa team, and should still be seen as foreigners
@BR (Comment 10) : Yes, I agree – just like anyone else that is not South African should be deemed as foreigners, but apparently that is not how SARU see it. I’m not defending the Kings or anybody here, just pointing out the inconsistencies we get from SARU and I can imagine it’s easy for misunderstandings to happen.
@Baylion (Comment 9) : Anton is definitely an SA citizen, despite being born in Namibia
@robdylan (Comment 12) : That’s what I thought.
The story with Bresler, and Engels for that matter, is that they are not considered foreigners because, at the moment of birth, Namibia was still part of South Africa, making them South African citizens or SA nationality eligible without any other requirements.
Players born after 1990 (when Namibia was an independent country) are only Namibian citizens but can apply for South African citizenship because of the parents (most likely) being South African themselves.
chase…
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