The admins at the Kings have close ties to the ANC. They used those connections with the ministry of Sport as leverage against SARU. They've also promised a lot when it comes to transformation and producing players of colour. Whether they can deliver on those promises remains to be seen, but their recent policy of stocking up on foreign journeymen like Clint Newland and Hadleigh Parkes isn't promising. Look, the area has always produced more than it's fair share of pro players, better than Natal for instance, but it's administration has always been a mess and for a variety of reasons players from there have opted to play their rugby at other teams. The hope is that SR and CC participation will change this, but most South African rugby fans are concerned that the corruption there will lead to it's failure.
Defo the Bulls and the Kings for the following reasons: 1. The Bulls is that team that you either support fanatically and to such an extent that you put rings in your nose and paint yourself blue like a fucking smurf before every game, even if you watch it from your couch at home whilst beating your wife for not bringing you beer quickly enough in succession OR you hate their fucking guts with your entire being and wish you could beat every single cunt who plays for them or supports them to an agonising death with a fucking 2x4! There is no in between with them and they are no one's "second" team. 2. The same position as above applies to the Kings because the cunts get given everything, including their place in the Prem and their spot in SR last year, on a silver platter by some cock sucking meddling politician who has the word "transformation" tattooed on his dick! You either support them because you are a complete fuckwit who doesn't believe in earning your place in life or your are devout ANC supporter OR you hate the cunts, like everyone else outside P.E. You must have had a temporary brain explosion by giving that as your first answer since the only franchise's supporters who hates the Sharks are the Bulls, because the Sharks is the only club who can stand up to them atm, but this was also only a recent development. You eventually got it right at the end though. Your call on the Griquas is spot on - everybody likes them since they play a tough and honest brand of rugby comparable to the Cheetahs in SR. It is because of politics man, politics!
Nah, I hate the Sharks most. Most of their fans are cunts. Little England motherfuckers. Can't go a day without seeing a Sharks bumper sticker... in Cape Town. :angry: Very few Bulls fans around...even at Loftus. So, more pity than hate. The Lions "fans" are the one's to watch though, one win and they think it's 1995 again, rub it in like nobody's business. Fortunately they very rarely win.
Coming from a city that has no Super Rugby representation, Bulls are definitely the team people love to hate. You either support them or hate their guts. The whole idea is that PE is situated in the Eastern Cape - the poorest, most underdeveloped province in SA. Therefore, as well as because stacks of talent from EC gets stolen by Super Rugby teams, it makes sense to those in charge to force an Eastern Cape team into being, as it falls in line with the sports-political buzzword of SA - transformation. It's an interesting situation because the point of the Kings is to provide opportunities for young black players to be introduced to the game and have a chance of representing a team from their backyard, but while that idea is idiotic for a number of reasons, the Kings actually have long-term sustainability purely because the Eastern Cape produces enough talent as is.
EP Kings v Western Province 16 | 35 Griquas v Sharks 24 | 31 Golden Lions v Blue Bulls 41 | 13 Pumas v FS Cheetahs 28 | 21 Section X Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD BPts Pts 1 Golden Lions 1 1 0 0 41 13 28 1 5 2 Western Province 1 1 0 0 35 16 19 1 5 3 Eastern Province Kings 1 0 0 1 16 35 -19 0 0 4 Blue Bulls 1 0 0 1 13 41 -28 0 0 Section Y Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD BPts Pts 1 Sharks 1 1 0 0 31 24 7 0 4 2 Pumas 1 1 0 0 28 21 7 0 4 3 Griquas 1 0 0 1 24 31 -7 1 1 4 Free State Cheetahs 1 0 0 1 21 28 -7 1 1
Sharks 34 vs Pumas 17 W. Province 41 vs Blue Bulls 17 Lions 60 vs Eastern Province Kings 19 Cheetahs 34 vs Griquas 27 Section X Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA BPts Pts 1 Lions 2 2 0 0 101 32 69 0 0 2 10 2 WP 2 2 0 0 76 33 43 0 0 2 10 3 Bulle 2 0 0 2 30 82 -52 0 0 0 0 4 EP Kings 2 0 0 2 35 95 -60 0 0 0 0 Section Y Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA BPts Pts 1 Sharks 2 2 0 0 65 41 24 0 0 1 9 2 Toyota FS Cheetahs 2 1 0 1 55 55 0 0 0 2 6 3 Pumas 2 1 0 1 45 55 -10 0 0 0 4 4 Griquas 2 0 0 2 51 65 -14 0 0 3 3
Results: Friday, August 22 2014 Steval Pumas 33 - 15 GWK Griquas Saturday, August 23 2014 Cell C Sharks 19 - 16 Toyota FS Cheetahs DHL Western Province 27 - 14 Xerox Golden Lions Vodacom Blue Bulls 30 - 25 EP Kings Log: TEAM: P | W | PTS DHL Western Province: 3 | 3 | 14 Cell C Sharks: 3 | 3 | 13 Xerox Golden Lions: 3 | 2 | 10 Steval Pumas: 3 | 2 | 9 Toyota FS Cheetahs: 3 | 1 | 7 Vodacom Blue Bulls: 3 | 1 | 5 GWK Griquas: 3 | 0 | 3 EP Kings: 3 | 0 | 1
I'm so happy with this atm: The Sharks are undefeated and the Bulls and Kings both had bad runs so far #seventhheaven.
Early days, no one has won anything yet. You can believe the Pumas are going to give it their all this evening. I picked the Sharks on Superbru though...
Round Four: Section Y 29 August 2014 Pumas 32–22 Natal Sharks Section Y 30 August 2014 Griquas 25–36 Free State Cheetahs Section X 30 August 2014 Blue Bulls 18–23 Western Province Section X 30 August 2014 EP Kings 22–41 Golden Lions 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division log Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts 1 Western Province 4 4 0 0 126 65 +61 13 6 2 0 18 2 Golden Lions 4 3 0 1 156 81 +75 19 10 3 0 15 3 Pumas 4 3 0 1 110 92 +18 13 9 2 0 14 4 Natal Sharks 4 3 0 1 106 89 +17 9 10 1 0 13 5 Free State Cheetahs 4 2 0 2 107 99 +8 13 11 2 2 12 6 Blue Bulls 4 1 0 3 78 130 −52 8 13 1 1 6 7 Griquas 4 0 0 4 91 134 −43 12 17 1 2 3 8 Eastern Province Kings 4 0 0 4 82 166 −84 11 22 0 1 1
The Pumas are going to shock more of the "bigger" union this season. Both the Cheetahs and Sharks have already fallen short in Nelspruit. They are playing 80 minutes of solid running rugby and that is hard to stop.
