Johannesburg

Tuesday

A few showers. Morning clouds. Nippy.

10°C
14°C

7 day forecasts

Back to Olympics for rugby

2003-10-02 22:14

De Jongh Borchardt

Pretoria - A lot has been said about players from smaller rugby nations preferring to play for their clubs or provincial unions, instead of representing their countries at the World Cup.

Sports promoter Willem Strauss, who is well-acquainted with the rugby set-up in South Sea countries, has suggested a possible solution to this problem.

Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Namibia and Georgia are among the countries affected by players who feel they can't afford to "take time off" to participate in the World Cup tournament.

"I don't think the clubs refuse to pay these players, but they use subtle methods in order to make it almost impossible for the players to do anything else but withdraw from the World Cup tournament" says Strauss.

He refers to experienced Samoan hooker Trevor Leota, currently playing in England, former Fiji captain Simon Raiwalui, who also plays in England and Hugo Horn, the Namibia's hooker who is representing Griquas in the Currie Cup competition, as examples.

"The players must choose between possible short-term glory at the World Cup or their future careers. They have families to support and can't afford not to be playing."

Strauss proposes the following steps, aimed at ensuring that rugby's so-called minnows will be at full strength and at their best when the 2007 World Cup tournament kicks off in France:

"Players and infrastructure should be developed continuously. It's important that these players - wearing their countries' colours - be included in bigger competitions like the Super 12.

"The rugby calendar should be drawn up in such a way that the World Cup tournament does not clash with other competitions.

"Major rugby-playing nations should do more to support the smaller countries. The South African Rugby Football Union plays its part by, for instance, sending an SA A team to play in Namibia and inviting teams like Samoa to this country.

"Rugby, perhaps sevens, should once again become an Olympic sport. Many of the smaller national rugby unions receive no money from their governments because rugby is not an Olympic sport.

"The smaller countries should thus become part of the mainstream. That would boost rugby as an international sport," says Strauss.

- Beeld

inside news24

Cpt: 16-27°C High level clouds. Warm. Pta: 12-17°C A few showers. Morning clouds. Cool.
Jhb: 10-14°C A few showers. Morning clouds. Nippy. Bloem: 11-22°C Sprinkles late. More sun than clouds. Cool.
Dbn: 14-20°C Sprinkles late. Morning clouds. Cool. PE: 14-21°C Mostly sunny. Mild.
7 day forecasts...
Western Cape Eastern Cape Kwazulu Natal Gauteng

Germiston - 18:57:15 PM OVERNIGHT ROADWORKS - stop / go controls are in operation at the N12 Highway Interchange until 5am Tuesday More traffic reports...

Here are the winning Lotto numbers from the Saturday, November 14 draw.

3, 11, 19, 29, 35, 36  Bonus 27

Lotto plus: 1, 18, 23, 28, 30, 33 Bonus 43

SMS the word Lotto to 31222 to get lotto numbers sent directly to your phone.
More lotto numbers...

Jobs - Find your dream job

Senior Web Developer

Gauteng - JHB North/Sandton
Hire Resolve
R400,000-450,000 Per Month

Senior Java Developer

Gauteng - Pretoria
Hire Resolve
R30,000-40,000 Per Month

CHIEF SUB-EDITOR

Western Cape - Cape Town
Media24

Cars - Search 1000's of new and used cars

AUDI

2008 A4 1.8T Multitronics from R 269 000

FORD

Ka 1.3 3-dr Trend
2007
R 64,899.00

TOYOTA

Corolla 1.6 Professional
2007
R 145,990.00

TOYOTA

Tazz 130 5-dr MY00
2006
R 75,990.00

Property - Find a new home

BROOKLYN

Single Residential R2,250,000

LA CONCORDE

Single Residential R2,600,000

DIE BOORD

Single Residential R2,560,000

Travel - Look, Book, Go!

Free Games - TOO MUCH NEWS? TAKE A BREAK!