WP to quit Newlands for Green Point

Western Province Rugby took a step closer to a permanent move to the Cape Town stadium with the announcement yesterday that the union and the city were entering formal talks for Green Point to become rugby's new home.

Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille said that "agreement had been reached to start formal discussions", which marks a major step forward for the city. Previously the WP Rugby Football Union has been reluctant to become the state-of-the-art Green Point complex's anchor tenants.

The city and the union will now establish a number of technical teams to deal with a range of issues that need to be resolved before a possible move can be considered.

No time frame was set for the move but WPRFU president Tobie Titus said the process would be lengthy."This is not an event; it is a process. It is not about us, but about the community we [serve].

"It is not an overnight issue. People need to have patience and respect the process we have embarked on. It is not going to be a matter of months. It will be years."

There are several major stumbling blocks to rugby moving to Green Point. The new stadium only contains 100 private suites while Newlands has 300. The revenue derived from suites is vital to the union's budget.

The rugby body also owns Newlands and a number of properties in the immediate precinct. It doesn't make financial sense to pay rent elsewhere unless the city gives the union favourable rezoning licences so it can maximise profits from the potential sale or lease of the land.

Negotiations will be tough but there is a willingness from the top brass at Newlands to discuss these issues instead of ignoring them.

The City of Cape Town and the union had endured a tense relationship over the issue of the stadium built for the 2010 World Cup.

Most embarrassingly, the union blocked the city from hosting a European Cup match featuring Saracens and Biarritz at the Cape Town Stadium in January because it wasn't consulted. As the host union of the match it required the union's consent for the fixture to go ahead.

"There have been some fights but we've agreed bygones will be bygones and we can start afresh," De Lille said.