Cavaliers commit to cause
2007-05-10
THE Boland Cavaliers on Friday committed themselves to winning the upcoming promotion relegation matches against the Pumas for a place in this year’s Currie Cup competition despite the ongoing chaos with the liquidation of Boland Rugby.
After a series of meetings (Wednesday to Friday) the players, along with the coaching staff, decided to go ahead with the games, even if they are not paid to play.
“We (the players) feel that we’ve worked very hard for the opportunity to play in the relegation matches,” said Andries Human, prop forward for the Cavaliers.
“We are going to give our best in order to win both home and away games.
“Although we are uncertain as to what will happen afterwards, we are fully motivated nonetheless. For the next two weeks we’ll be practising extensively in preparation for the matches.”
The possibility exists that if the Cavaliers advance to the Currie Cup, new sponsors might emerge to take Boland Rugby forward.
Human explained the players never wanted Boland Rugby to be liquidated, but that it was seen as a last resort if their claim was not accepted.
“Our original offer was that the 21 players, who were not given new contracts by Boland, were paid salaries for three months and that the contracts of the other 36 players be extended to the end of October 2007.
“Boland was not interested in the offer as they believed they were not responsible for the players, who already had contracts with the company Playco (also part of Fidentia).
“But the Playco contract stated that if anything should go wrong with Playco/Fidentia, that Boland union would be responsible for the players’salaries.
“The judgment of the court was that Boland Union is accountable and should honour the Playco contract, hence the liquidation of Boland’s commercial arm, Boland Rugby Pty. Ltd.
“It’s a difficult situation because most of the players have bonds to pay and families to support. They had to give up their jobs for the opportunity to play professional sports and currently have no income,” Human said.
Coenie Basson, lock forward for the Cavaliers, said he was last paid in March.
“I seriously doubt if we will get paid in the near future. We’ll try our utmost to win against the Pumas. It’s the only way that we can get new sponsors to secure the future of the players.”
Dawid de Villiers, the Cavaliers’ other lock forward who has also had no income since March, said all the players love rugby so much that they want to play against the Pumas, regardless of the outcome.
“The situation is really bad, because we currently have no income.
“We all looked forward to playing for Boland for the next two years, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen,” de Villiers said.
The CEO of Boland Rugby Union, Piet Bergh, said the Union shared the views of the players in wanting to get into the Currie Cup. “We have fought long and hard for the opportunity to play in a promotion/relegation match.
“With all the unpleasantness of the liquidation it was unclear whether we would be able to play or not. Now we have a chance.
“We believe that if our campaign is successful, it will open a lot of doors for Boland Rugby,” Bergh said.
The team to take on the Mica Pumas at Witbank on Friday (19:00) consists of Renfred Dazel, John Daniëls, Piet van Zyl, Hennie Daniller, Jongikhaya Nokwe, Tewis de Bruyn, Neil Papier, Francois Prinsloo, Henley du Plessis, Zolani Mofu, Piet Myburgh, David de Villiers, Andries Human, Conrad Burke (captain) and Janro van Niekerk.
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