Sponsorless rugby league kicks-off
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday March 13, 2020 12:26
Anticipation was high from the rugby fraternity that a sponsorship deal would be struck after the recent election, which ushered in a new leadership.
BRU secretary general, Boitshoko Tsiane told Mmegi Sport yesterday that the financial situation has not changed. He said they were not expecting any changes this season.
“We have not managed to find sponsorship for Super Rugby for this season. Maybe we would have a sponsor for the 7s series,” he said.
Tsiane said there are no major changes in the Super Rugby league with four clubs, Canon Jaguars, BDF Cheetahs, Gaborone Hogs and Jwaneng, competing. Tsiane added the intention was to have a cross-border league, which was to include two clubs from South Africa and a similar number from Zimbabwe. However, the outbreak of the coronavirus curtailed the plans.
He said they would continue to monitor the situation. Meanwhile, UB Rhinos are still stuck in the lower division after deciding to relegate last season.
“It is disheartening for a club like Rhinos to be suffering. Almost all sport science physical tests are done at UB so we cannot expect their rugby club to be in financial dire straits,” he said.
Tsiane said he has engaged with UB and the same would happen with other tertiary institutions.
The Super Rugby league season opener is a clash between cross-town rivals, Cheetahs and Hogs. The two sides met in the final last season with Hogs walking away with the silverware. Cheetahs last won the championship in 2017.
The defending champions come into the match after parting ways with their coach, Louie Fourie, who has been replaced by Shaun Lees. “Preparations have been going pretty well. We have had an opportunity to look at different player combinations and to work on our attack and defence structures,” Lees said.
He said they were looking forward to playing Cheetahs and expect the match to be a physical encounter, but as always his players are ready for the challenge.
“As always, we have a number of new players across all our teams at the start of the season. We look forward to seeing which sides they are selected for the weekend. No team selection has taken place at this point,” added Lynn Warburton, Hogs manager.
Cheetahs’ spokesperson, Modesto Madzambi said they are after revenge following their loss in the league final.
Kagiso Ditsebe and Lempaletse Ngaka are out of action tomorrow. Cheetahs have signed fly half Mandla Julius from Botho Riders.
“We have promoted some of our players from the B Division team, as a way of injecting energy into our backline. Our opponents have weak forwards, so we intend to exploit that,” he said. Cheetahs’ coach, Shine Gabatladiwe is still on suspension and Gilbert Machobana would be on the bench, assisted by Kabo Batsile.
Other fixtures: Women: BDF vs BUAN, Hogs vs BUAN and BDF vs Hogs.
Reserve: BDF vs Hogs. President Cup: BUAN vs Hogs.