The Sharks have launched a bold initiative with Durban Tourism that will see three of the side’s home games in the upcoming Curie Cup competition played at stadiums in townships surrounding the East Coast city.
SA Rugby’s new extended Currie Cup now includes a qualifying round, essentially a replacement of the old Vodacom Cup competition. The Sharks will compete in this initial round of games as the Sharks XV; a young squad of up-and-coming players will be a big part of the initiative to take rugby out into the community.
This weekend’s competition opener, against the Boland Cavaliers, takes place at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Clermont township, kicking off at 7pm on Friday night. Subsequent fixtures, against Namibia and the Lions, will be played in Umlazi and Kwa-Mashu respectively.
“Our valued partnership with Durban Tourism has paved the way for this tour, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their aligned vision, eagerness and commitment to grow the game amongst our communities,” said Sharks CEO John Smit of the plans.
“We trust that people in these areas as well as our fans travelling from outside those communities, embrace these fixtures and it is a memorable rugby occasion for everyone involved. Our ultimate hope is to visit different communities each year, with this tour becoming an annual event on our calendar.”
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Very good initiative, but having worked in these areas before, there is no way in hell that I’ll go watch a game there.
Great iniative!
Yeah, this is a good move…
Im interested to see if these games actually pull any crowd even with free entry. Ive been to the Sugar Ray Xulu stadium and its actually pretty impressive. Will be interesting to see what lineup the Sharks pick- Boland have look good in preseason
@SheldonK (Comment 4) : Sharks are likely to enter this competition very undercooked. Mike Horak is head coach for the campaign, but he’s been with Impi.
Great start and other unions should be considering this too. To ensure ongoing interest though, SARU and the provincial unions need to make a plan on how to get rugby onto screens for the underprivileged. Fan zones in townships, delayed broadcasts, whatever it takes.
@robdylan (Comment 5) : Very fair comment. I just wonder what the Sharks and other super rugby teams will be looking to get out of this first phase of the CC
@SheldonK (Comment 7) : Most probably just to test their depth
@robdylan (Comment 5) :
The Impi have showed massive improvement, so I hope that comes with the coach into the ‘Vodacom Cup’ team.
It will be interesting to see how many of the Impi players make it into the Pre Currie Cup squad..
@KingRiaan (Comment 8) : exactly. That’s all it is.
@vanmartin (Comment 6) : Very good comment and suggestions. It’s long overdue if you ask me. Especially in KZN where there are numbers to burn. Sharks by just being in KZN can play an even bigger role in spreading and transforming the game in SA. NZ teams have benefited from having diverse teams as this has lifted their game and brought a different dynamic to it.
@GreatSharksays (Comment 11) : that’s my thinking too. Can only be good for the game. Anyway, kudos to the Sharks for thinking outside the box on this but sincerely hope this is simply the start of even greater things.
John Smit has been in this job a while now, needs to start ticking some boxes, since winning trophies isn’t happening.
I will def be watching the game against the lions in the princess magogo staduim, my mother stays across the road from there so I will “visit” than go to the match.
@KingRiaan (Comment 1) : how come? If you change your mind my friends and i can go with you
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 13) : LOL….. cut right to the chase with that comment, Rich 🙂
The Lions actually started this but not so much on a township level.
I seem to recall hearing the Lions will be playing in some outlying towns such as Alberton and so on, to involve the entire province and not just playing at Ellis Park.
Mutley or one of the Lions bloggers will be able to confirm.
@Poisy (Comment 15) : Princess Magogo is ok, but the last time I was in Umlazi, I had bullets flying around me. But yeah, would be cool to join up with you guys to watch some of the games.
@robdylan (Comment 16) :
There is no point beating around the bush..
If I was a SARU committee, I would have had to hold a meeting on whether to write the comment, vote by way of proxy to allow me to say what I want, reschedule said meeting because of a lack of evidence and then make the comment 2 weeks later.. Maybe, after another meeting..
@Poisy (Comment 15) : Riaan, I think Poisy just shamed you into attending the game, bud. Perhaps a kinder offer than your comment warranted….
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 19) : but then someone would leak the comment to the media one week before the meeting anyway
@robdylan (Comment 20) : Rob, I’ve had some hair raising situations in that areas before. So I don’t think that being concerned for safety is out of order?
@KingRiaan (Comment 18) : I’m sorry about that bud, I’m sure magogo will be okay, police station just up the road and there will be plenty security around, also I will be with the locals as my step brother stays there,and if things do happen no matter how unlikely just cross the road to my mothers house
@KingRiaan (Comment 22) : fair enough. Ignore me mate, I’m not in the best of moods this morning.
I think you should go to the game with Poisy, though.
@robdylan (Comment 21) :
Correct!
So just get it out of the way… John Smit is kak for the Sharks.
There, I said it. I feel better now..
@KingRiaan (Comment 22) : that’s fair enough I think. But I will be going with my girlfriend aswell who happens to be white we will be very safe.
@Poisy (Comment 26) : Cool, I will like to join you guys for the game mate.
@KingRiaan (Comment 8) : @robdylan (Comment 10) : Thats my feeling as well. There are a good few players just outside the current super rugby starters etc that would be good to see how they combine with youngsters.
@KingRiaan (Comment 27) : cool bro. Send me your email to organise things. We can go to a shisa nyama before the game
@Poisy (Comment 29) : Awesome, [email protected]
@KingRiaan (Comment 30) : Friday, May 20: Princess Magogo Stadium, Kwa-Mashu – Sharks XV v Golden Lions (19:00) put it in your calendar
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 25) : You know what I think? I think maybe Smit should have started with the sort of marketing-focused role that Ed Coetzee now fills. Bring in a CEO with more experience. Then, if Smit grows into the CEO role in time, great. Hindsight, eh?
@Poisy (Comment 31) : I havnt been there in ages. Is it still mainly grass bank seating?
@Poisy (Comment 31) : Cool, I did so, will see you then.
@SheldonK (Comment 33) : no not at all! Plenty proper seating on main stands!
@Poisy (Comment 35) : Yeah, after the upgrade in 2010, it’s actually a nice looking stadium now.
@Poisy (Comment 14) : Take your mom with.
@Poisy (Comment 35) : Very cool to hear. Think last time i was there was to watch Amazulu play there when i was still at varsity.
@KingRiaan (Comment 22) : Ha ha, tell the guy sitting in the UK. 😈
@robdylan (Comment 32) :
Yeah look, some of us sit in Boardrooms with directors and CEO or COO or whatever, and I just don’t ever see a CEO that wasn’t in a junior position before getting the big gig. You don’t just walk into the big office, you start with the small one and work up.
Added that he has no actual prior knowledge of running a business, nevermind chairing a simple meeting or even manning the coffee station, I reckon he was thrown in the deep end. But he should have known that he was going to be in an on-the-job learning curve.
Agree with your comment, start as a Vice-Something or Junior-Something, instead of just simply CEO.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 40) : he’s getting some things right, though. But the pressure is immense now. So how much road does he have in front of him still? Time will tell
@robdylan (Comment 41) :
Yeah look, I think he got it wrong with Plum when he just waltzed in and made big time changes, but hopefully he learnt from that.
I understand that it takes time to implement change and to get rid of whatever rot there was in the system, as long as they don’t go shuffling the deck chairs only to realise that they are actually on the wrong boat…
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 40) : @robdylan (Comment 41) : Interesting comments, gents…
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 42) : Think of the current trophy drought as our ’96 to 2008 12 year trophy drought under van Zyl.
This gives Smittie another 9 years to implement all his systems, before we start expecting some trophies again. 😉
Great initiative from the Sharks, will build a nice support base, well done.
I’m not expecting any of the “big 5” unions to really feature in this CC…well, maybe WP, we have such good depth there , lol, just kidding.
Pumas, Griekwas to probably be the stronger teams, and my dark horse, the Welwitchias. Lots of the Namibian WC players will be in their side.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 44) :
So what you are actually saying is this:
Richard, you live in Johannesburg now, go buy yourself a Lions jersey?
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 46) : I reckon you might as well go the whole hog and buy yourself a Chiefs jersey 😀
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 46) : You live in Jo’burg now…..you poor thing, buy yourself a one way flight to Mauritius and rediscover the joy of life
@vanmartin (Comment 47) : He might have to look at a hybrid Landers/Chiefs jersey…..probably just end up buying himself an AB jersey, that should cover the spectrum. 😉
@FireTheLooser (Comment 49) : If he goes with the away kits the Highlanders/Chiefs combo would be green and white…so close to Bok colours 😉
@SheldonK (Comment 50) : So back to square one then I’m afraid…. Might as well book that one way flight to Mauritius, and rediscover the patience required of any self-respecting Sharks fan. 🙂