THE SA Rugby Players Association (Sarpa) will have an urgent meeting with the EP Kings rugby players on Wednesday in a bid to end a strike over payment which has put the provincial union\u2019s Currie Cup match against the Lions on Saturday in jeopardy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are aware of the situation and we\u2019re going to meet with the players tomorrow\u201a\u201d said Sarpa media manager Nyaniso Sam. \u201cOne of our officials will be in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday and once the meeting is over we will issue a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe players got there this morning and they had a discussion among themselves. They checked (their bank accounts) and they were not paid and they did not go to practice today. To call it a strike is a bit premature. We will sit down with the guys tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
A source close to the Kings camp said that the players had attended a meeting early on Tuesday at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have decided to down tools until they get paid. They also want to know whether there is a plan in place going forward\u201a\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n
EP Kings president Cheeky Watson would not confirm or deny whether his players had gone on strike.<\/p>\n
Watson said: \u201cI am extremely happy the players have taken the day off because there have been a couple of tough matches. The salaries will be sorted out in the next 24 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
There has also been speculation that the Kings players are reluctant to play because their medical aid premiums have not been paid.<\/p>\n
The player walkout has disrupted the Kings\u2019 plans for what will be a tough match against the table-topping unbeaten Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The Kings has been expected to name their team to play against the Lions on Tuesday\u201a but the announcement was cancelled at the last moment without any explanation from the Kings media office.<\/p>\n
The Kings have endured a miserable start to the Currie Cup campaign\u201a losing all four of their opening matches.<\/p>\n
The province has been beset by cash problems for some time and their former head coach Carlos Spencer left the Kings in July after a dispute over wages.<\/p>\n
Last week\u201a however\u201a Watson said he was only a matter of days away from clinching the biggest sponsorship deal in the history of South African rugby.<\/p>\n
A delay in the sponsorship coming through resulted in a cash crisis in which the players were not paid their monthly salaries at the end of June.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sponsorship-partnership is nearing a conclusion. These things take a heck of a lot of time in dotting the Is and crossing the Ts\u201a and making everybody happy\u201a\u201d Watson said last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are at the finishing line where that is concerned. I think we are talking a couple of days. The money has landed and is being processed. That is the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watson would not confirm speculation that the sponsorship was worth R200-million and would not be drawn on who the sponsor was\u201a other than say it was an overseas company.<\/p>\n
Asked why he had not been able to pay his players\u201a Watson said: \u201cIt was a simple thing. It was a cash flow problem. If you don\u2019t have money in your pocket you can\u2019t buy steak. You\u2019ve got to buy half a loaf of bread. It is a simple thing of economics.\u201d \u2013 The Times<\/p>\n
Source: RDM News Wire.<\/p>\n