The Kings have some explaining to do after they selected three foreigners in their matchday 22 to play against the Chiefs last Friday.
The Kings lost that clash 35-24, but could be handed a fine or deducted points as they prepare a report to the South African Rugby Union (SARU).
Argentina-born loose forward Tomás Leonardi joined fellow countryman Nicolas Vergallo on the bench after Kings skipper Darron Nell was injured in the warm-up prior to the game.
Leonardi was on the field for ten minutes as a replacement before half-time and again from the 58th minute onwards in the second half, whilst Vergallo came on in 79th minute.
Kiwi centre Hadleigh Parkes started the Round Four encounter against the defending champions at inside centre, which meant the Kings fielded three foreign players in their squad - one more than the two allowed by SARU.
Namibia-born prop Jaco Engels and utility forward Daniel Adongo (Kenya) also played a part in the match. However, players from the African continent aren't considered foreigners according to SARU policy.
Comments
nefari says...
They agree to certain conditions to take part in the tournament, they broke those conditions SPITEFULLY.
World welcome to our government where anything that happens by people in power breaking the rules will be met with a slap on the wrist and "sorry, I didn't know"
Posted 07:02 20th March 2013
rolf says...
Completely ridiculous.
drop those silly foreigner rules. WTF has antionality to do with professional club/franchise Rugby?
Its not the national squad, men.
good to hear that SARU entertains a panafrican approach on the other hand.
Amandla!
Posted 19:32 19th March 2013
ferdie says...
Zimboy - what have European clubs to do with this?
The Australian and NZ sides do have restrictions on overseas players; but it varies per team.
kings know the rules, their application for more overseas players was declined.
Posted 03:05 19th March 2013
lardon says...
@Zimboy: The English clubs do have a similar rule, The French do not. The English rule is only Two Foreign players per matchday squad. However the definition of Foreign is whats debated, As per EU ruling all EU nationals are not foreign as well as Kolpak registered Nations. Its part of a piece of EU Legislation called the Kolpak Ruling, I would suggest you that up.
The ruling basically states that if an English club sign a player from a who's from an ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) nation they are covered under the Kolpak ruling. New Zealand and Australia are not covered by Kolpak, so in order to get access to England they must use close ancestry if they wish to avoid being a foreign player.
I cite this example. There's Two Argentine players in playing for Exeter Chiefs (Gonzalo Camacho and Ignacio Mieres) in England, Mieres is regarded as foreign player and Camacho isn't. This is because Camacho has a Spanish passport through a close ancestral tie, and Mieres doesn't.
Posted 21:07 18th March 2013
mfair says...
Kings got zero from the game (I think?) so surely this has no consequence. Don't be petty SARU, just warn them and penalise them should it happen again.
Posted 15:55 18th March 2013
FISH says...
i hope they lose points and get a heavy fine, if you start bending the rules for one team then there will be anarchy, the rules are the rules deal with it
Posted 15:50 18th March 2013
Zimboy says...
Personally, I think this is a silly rule by SARU. Especially considering the European clubs and Aussie/NZ teams don't have this rule? I'm sure the Kings didn't plan it deceitfully... injuries took over ...and therefore should just be given a warning? Next time they do it they can be punished?
Posted 15:39 18th March 2013