Troubled Mzansi Challenge rugby tournament will press ahead

Some of the cast members may have changed but SA Rugby’s Mzansi Challenge will kick off on Friday providing playing opportunity for players in desperate need of a game.

The Mzansi Challenge is supposed to give teams who don’t participate in the Premier Division of the Currie Cup much needed exposure, but without actual airtime by way of live broadcasts.

The tournament, which has attracted unwanted heat, will have a much reduced international flavour with two teams falling by the wayside, while another will be forced to pull the plug on their playing commitments in South Africa.

The ironically-titled tournament, which does not have a sponsor, has proved quite a challenge for visiting teams who have to pay their own way to travel to and play in the country.

The team from the initial entry list that ironically would have been best positioned to pay their own way, the Tel Aviv Heat, was the first to drop out.

The fallout from SA Rugby’s withdrawal of their invitation to the Heat reverberated far and wide but the tournament looks set to go ahead without them.

Also missing from the initial list of entrants are Spain’s Diables, who had to pull out for “logistical reasons”. Paying their own way, however, proved an insurmountable hurdle and they withdrew earlier this month.

While not withdrawing from the tournament, Zimbabwe’s Goshawks have had to seriously alter their plans for a lack of funding.

The Goshawks have confirmed to www.rugby365.com that they are unable to play their first three games in SA. As a result they will forfeit their log points to the Leopards who they were due to meet on Friday, Eastern Province next week and the Boland Cavaliers the week after. They will play their first game against the Namibia Welwitschias at home in the middle of next month and as things stand they will play the Simbas in Kenya next month.

It is not yet clear whether the Goshawks will forfeit four or five points for the fixtures they don’t honour.

Without formally saying so, SA Rugby has in the meantime added the San Clemente Rhinos to the mix. The team, which operates as part of USA Rugby’s development programme, will be based in Hermanus during the Mzansi Challenge but where they will play their home matches will be announced on Thursday, along with other details about the revised tournament.

The team is said to also have a strong Mexican flavour but whether they’ll be able to bring the heat the teams that have withdrawn would have remains to be seen.

The South African  teams participating in the tournament are the Leopards, Falcons, Border, Eastern Province, Boland Cavaliers and SWD Eagles.