Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie said the cancelled game against the Lions a few months ago was now water under the bridge. Picture: Getty Images
Cheetahs head coach Hawies Fourie said they don’t need to prove anything in next month’s local competition after being kicked out of Pro14 rugby.
SA Rugby’s General Council on Tuesday voted in favour of the four Super Rugby teams moving north to play in an expanded Pro16 competition from next year, while at the same time suggesting the Cheetahs should take part in a new Super 8 competition, which will involve teams from New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and Japan.
Harold Verster, the MD of the Cheetahs, said on Wednesday that if they take part in the Super 8 competition they would be able to make up for possible financial losses suffered by not playing Pro rugby.
“We are working on a model. I don’t think we would lose too much income if we entered the Super 8. Also, I believe we would be able to take care of our responsibilities,” said Verster.
The Cheetahs will also play in a new SA Cup competition where all 14 unions will be divided into two pools on historic log standings and contest a single-round competition to identify eight teams for a knockout stage of quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.
In the Currie Cup, the four mooted Pro Rugby Championship franchises – the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers – plus the top four non-franchise qualifiers from the SA Cup would contest the Currie Cup Premier Division over a double-round with semi-final and final.
The bottom six SA Cup teams will contest the Currie Cup First Division in a single-round competition before semi-finals and final.
Fourie said he found it tough to agree the Cheetahs are not good enough for Pro Rugby.
“I don’t think we really want to prove anything regarding (our exit of) Pro Rugby,” said Fourie. “We were willing to play in the competition in 2017 (when the structure of Super Rugby changed) and the Cheetahs did very well in the three seasons they were part of Pro Rugby,” said Fourie.
Fourie pointed to the fact that they had reached the quarter-finals and won 76% of their home games. “So there wasn’t a logical reason for me that we shouldn’t play in Pro Rugby … whether we win the Currie Cup or not,” he said.
“The Cheetahs have proved themselves over a period of time as one of the top teams in the country and for me there was no valid reason to kick us out of the competition,” he said.
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