The Stormers have re-signed fly half Peter Grant for the 2013 Super Rugby season but he will miss the Stormers pre-season warm ups next year.
rugbyweek
According to reports Grant, who also plays for Kobe Steelers in Japan, has agreed to one more year with the Stormers, but will return to Japan after this year’s Super Rugby season and will therefore be unavailable for Western Province in the Currie Cup.
For the last two Super Rugby seasons Grant has missed the Stormers build up to Super Rugby as he completes his commitments with the Steelers.
In the 2010 and 2011 Super Rugby seasons Grant arrived late for the Stormers and he missed all of their pre-season matches and the opening rounds.
This year Grant missed the Stormers opening match against the Hurricanes but started on the bench against the Sharks and kicked the match winning penalties.
Meanwhile Stormers coach Allister Coetzee has confirmed that Gio Aplon (hamstring), Eben Etzebeth (shoulder), Jean De Villiers (wrist), Andries Bekker (back), have all recovered and will be available for selection against the Cheetahs this weekend.
Schalk Burger, Duane Vermeulen and Nick Koster (all knee injuries) are expected to return only after the June break.
“We are in a good position at the moment, but it can all be quickly undone. The next 4 games are crucial to our campaign and our focus is fully on the Cheetahs next week.” said the coach.
“We are really looking forward to playing in front of the Faithful again. ”
“Our time on tour was good, but there is really nothing like playing in front of our home fans. ”
“Newlands is a special place and the guys feed off that energy.”
Hell, if Grant can just get away from his bloody Japanese duties and play all his rugby here again…
We’ll have back up in Elton Jantjies next year, no worries. And a big plus for him, is he’ll get to work with Nienaber for a bit. That’ll sort his defensive problems out!
2 @ Just For Kicks:
I see a SARU meeting is scheduled for middle of the month, to make some decisions on the Kings participation…
My money is on one of 2 things…
Either the Kings will be in and the Lions out in a simple relegation move.
or
The Kings hearts will be broken and Lions will stay in… no Kings participation.
…. but with SARU you never know… the Stormers, Bulls, Sharks & Cheetahs might just be relegated and the freegin Kings, Pumas, Griquas, Lions & Boland might get to freegin play….
I reckon, just for a bit of fun, the Cheetahs, Lions, Stormers, Sharks and Bulls should all relegate themselves.
No seriously, what an embarrassing and incompetent mess SARU have got them into. All else aside, i.e. poor form, etc. Two things, in my mind are at issue here. Firstly, SARU have promised Kings a spot, and this has been endorsed by the there franchises. They cannot go back on their word. Secondly, you cannot have a promotion/relegation system without at least a seasons warning. It is simply not fair, or justifiable. With 7 rounds left, it is possible (not likely, but possible), that the Lions could win all their matches with a bonus point That would net them 35 points. Giving them a total of 49. At the same time, it is possible for 1 of the other franchises to lose all their matches and pick up no bonus points. Again highly unlikely. This means therefore that it is still possible for any of the SA franchises to be relegated if that system is in place. The problem is, SARU haven’t committed to the promotion/relegation system yet, so can hardly implement it now for this season.
It’s a monumental f/up
Just heard Flo not joining Stormers as cover for the rest of the season. Very bitter now.
Saw Peter Hain on tv the other….still can’t stand the b*st*rd. he kept us out of the 72 Olympics….and since then I have intensely disliked the manipulation of sporting policy for political reasons…Simple if the Kings cannot play their way into the top echelon, then they must languish until they can!!!
“ti-i-i-ime is on my side, yes it is”
think thats the themesong of the guys running sarugby!!
..
why the heck did they not pave the way for the inclusion of the kings last year when the aussies added another superrugby team?
7 @ Ashley:
Cause they don’t think that far
gbs @ 8
well, i tend to agree on that one … i think that whatever is coming the way of sarugby in regard to the kings’ saga, will be deserved
..
i cant see sarugby be allowed to break a promise to the kings again … on the other hand, i dont know what kind of plans the kings have to ensure that their transition will go as smoothly as possible … eg. what kind of players have they lined up? sposorships? etc etc etc.
anyway
this is exactly the things sarugby shouldve been looking at:
1. having a plan in place to bring the kings into the superrugby
2. ensuring that the kings have their own plans in place regarding player procurement, sponsors etc etc etc.
9 @ Ashley:
Well, the Kings have appointed a Head Coach and a coaching team… head coach nogal Matt Sexton, the New Zealander…
Alan Zondach will head up the Director of Rugby role….
All they need now is real rugby players…. about 25 to 30 of them… plus good sponsors, a team culture, game plan which works, supporters, money…
gbs @ 10
yes, ive also read about the appointment of sexton.
do you think they may be busy talking to players? do they have the kind of sponsors to attract the big-name players?
11 @ Ashley:
See, now that’s where it falls flat…. the prime motive behind the Spears / Southern Kings in the 1st place was to give players from the Southern and Eastern Cape, Super Rugby representation….
… now we hear about them contracting overseas based SA Players and picking up scraps from all over South Africa…
How bloody representative is that, I ask you?
How does that satisfy the political aspirations of the political meddling twats?
If killing the Lions is the result, what would they have achieved?
Maybe a truce lies somewhere in the middle…. merge the Southern Kings and MTN Lions for 3 years… call them the MTN Southern Lion Kings… play 4 games in Joburg, 4 games in PE.
It saves the Lions from total ruin, hopefully at the same time as giving the Southern Kings 3 years of building a squad and eventually contracting players which hails from the Southern and Eastern Cape… and bringing more through, by means of their Academy.
Hell, no merger is good or advisable, but I recon it’s still better than the ruin of Lions rugby, PLUS the inevitable failure of the Southern Kings as a Super Rugby Franchise…
Just a thought… take it, leave it, build on it….
…. or suggest a better idea.
(I’m not saying a merger is the answer… but damn I don’t see any other option to satisfy all options)
gbs @ 12
agree on the merger
how its gonna work and whether the kings would be available for such an option, remains to be seen!!
anyway
i’m out of here!!
cheers!!
14 @ Ashley:
If SARU can promise Super Rugby participation… or make the tough decision for relegation of a 100 years PLUS SA Franchise, surely they can make a decision for the Kings and Lions to merge… and save them both.
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