The Sunday Times - Sport
May 15, 2005
Searching for pot of gold
The proposed Rainbow Cup would pit South Africas stars against the Celtic nations in a venture that is large in vision, but small in detail. By Lewis Stuart
THE Rainbow Cup. A pot of gold; or just plain potty? Five nations, two hemispheres, one tournament. Is it a vision whose time has come or yet another Celtic kite doomed to crash? Amid the euphoria, we have to be realistic.
The proposal is to involve professional clubs from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Italy and South Africa in a 24-team, seven-week competition in September and October. Four pools of six, five games each and the four group winners enter a knockout phase to claim the cup. The idea was launched last week and portrayed as a done deal. True, all five governing bodies have signed a heads of agreement form, contracting them to take part, but there are get-out clauses. It could even crash next week, depending on events in South Africa.
The idea has been greeted enthusiastically in Scotland, and no wonder. For all that the Celtic League has going for it, the public north of the Border remain obstinately bored by the likes of Brian ODriscoll, Shane Williams and Chris Paterson pulling out all their tricks on Scottish soil. If the public wont get enthused, the broadcasters feel they are free to ignore Celtic rugby; and if they wont get involved, neither will a sponsor. The hope is that a revamped Celtic competition along the lines of the Super 12 and the Rainbow Cup will unblock that impasse.
Which is to underestimate the problems. South Africa is where Rian Oberholzer, a former managing director of the countrys rugby union and now a director of a marketing company called In-Site Sports, dreamed up the Rainbow Cup, but originally it was to involve the English. Only when they turned it down did the Celts and Italians jump in. However, South Africa is a nation which makes the chaos that has blighted Scotland in the past six months seem tame. The latest quarrel has its roots in the decision to expand the Super 12 to Super 14, with South Africa to get one of the extra teams. In the world of Springbok rugby politics, that has triggered a civil war.
In a last-ditch attempt to sort out the rebels, Brian van Rooyen, the president who signed the Rainbow Cup agreement, has called for fresh elections for the key positions in the South African union, including his own. Thats why the announcement came from out of the blue last week: he needed it to try to head off his rivals. If he wins, the deal goes ahead. If he loses, it is hard to see Andre Markgraaf, who heads the rebel faction, failing to offer it up as a sacrifice to his supporters.
After all, the Currie Cup, the main South African domestic competition, has been reformed in each of the past four years. Markgraaf can claim that Springbok rugby needs stability, not another revamp. The notion that top players such as Joe van Niekerk, Schalk Burger and Breyton Paulse will sit out the Currie Cup itself but compete in the Rainbow Cup is already encountering resistance.
Even if it passes that hurdle, the event is dependent on a sponsor. It will cost £500,000 to fly nine teams from South Africa to Europe and 15 teams the other way. Double that for accommodation and you are talking serious profits just to break even. There was talk of £250,000 per team, but that is nonsense. Not one sponsor on the planet will stick £6m into a seven-week rugby event.
Then there is the rugby politics of Italy. To make the deal work, they have to merge their Super 10 clubs into regional entities. Apart from hotbeds of interest around Venice and Parma, the clubs are scattered from Sicily to Leonessa near Milan. They must find an answer within weeks.
The reality is that the Celtic League is already struggling for credibility. For all the optimism of David Jordan, its tournament director, that the new competitions could be ready for the 2005-2006 season, the season after looks more likely. So how are they going to attract sponsorship, broadcast and public interest for next season, assuming the new format is a year away? Full marks for an idea that, if it works, could revolutionise the game. Minus marks, however, for letting South African politics appear to force a premature announcement.
