I'm not buying the lack of preparation time excuse. These players have recently finished 15 rounds of SR, and had a good break before beginning the prep for Currie Cup, a competition every bit as tough as any in the world.
How long does the PRO14 run for.... 26 rounds. I wonder how the Cheetahs and Kings players will be feeling after they have spent more than half the year travelling between Europe and the Republic.
Kings
15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 Wandile Mjekevu, 13 Berton Klaasen, 12 Luzuko Vulindlu, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Lionel Cronje (captain), 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Andisa Ntsila, 7 Tyler Paul, 6 Chris Cloete, 5 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 4 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Michael Willemse, 1 Mzamo Majola
Substitutes: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 19 Irne Herbst/Mzwanele Zito, 20 Thembelani Bholi, 21 Rudi van Rooyen, 22 Masixole Banda, 23 Waylon Murray/Yaw Penxe
Southern Kings team:
15 Masixole Banda, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Berton Klaasen, 12 Luzuko Vulindlu, 11 Sibusiso Sithole, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Rudi van Rooyen, 8 Andisa Ntsila, 7 Victor Sekekete, 6 Khaya Majola, 5 Dries van Schalkwyk, 4 Jurie van Vuuren, 3 Rossouw de Klerk, 2 Michael Willemse (captain), 1 Schalk Ferreira
Substitutes: 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 Luvuyo Pupuma, 18 Entienne Swanepoel, 19 Bobby de Wee, 20 Siyabulela Mdaka, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Ntabeni Dukisa, 23 Jacques Nel
Cheetahs
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Francois Venter (captain), 12 Clinton Swart, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Uzair Cassiem, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche
Substitutes: 16 Reinach Venter, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Armandt Koster, 20 Junior Pokomela, 21 Chris Dry, 22 Ruan van Rensburg, 23 Niel Marais
Cheetahs: S Petersen; R Specman, W Small-Smith, A Mgijima, M Mapimpi; C Blommetjies, S Venter; C Marais, J du Toit, J Coetzee; J Basson, R Hugo; P Schoeman, H Venter, N Jordaan (capt).
Replacements: T van Jaarsveld for Du Toit 52, T Botha for Benjamin 66, R Bernardo for Marais 52, G Olivier for Hugo 69, T Meyer for S Venter 64, C Afrika for Mgijima 50, R Benjamin for Blommetjies 45.
These are the teams from the last round of super rugby (posted first) and the games this weekend, a massive change in personnel is seen in both so I wouldn't proclaim that super rugby was great prep for this tournament. In addition to this it wasn't as if the Kings and Cheetahs were playing slouches, they were playing last year's champions and fifth placed side away respectively, looking at similar fixtures in last year's super rugby the Kings lost 54-10 to the Lions, tournament runners up if not necessarily the second best team, and the Cheetahs lost 50-32 to the Blues, another side who just missed out on a playoff spot. (Obviously this isn't an exact science but it does give an indication to the level of the SA teams) A fair analyst is also unlikely to consider the success of such a grand and disorganised change based on the first round of play, it's fair to say that the success or failure of this move for the Cheetahs and Kings won't be known for at least a couple of seasons.
To counter the apparent negative of these results, I can't say I remember a first round of the pro 12 which was covered as vastly as this one, all but one of the matches was easily accessible to viewers in Britain and Ireland on television, Sky covered two matches, all the news outlets took interest in the South African team and, using this thread and personal experience as an example, it got everyone excited about what is normally a fairly depressing round of matches. If this can continue and more more money is made South African club rugby is coming to Europe sooner rather than later.
The pro 14 is also a 20 game regular season with three playoff matches at most, these franchises will have had a hugely successful season if they can be in playoff contention in what is a very competitive league which has seen 4 different winners in the last 4 years.
