By Molefi Sompane
SASOLBURG – Supporters of the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division side Toyota Free State Cheetahs are disenchanted by a recent spate of poor performances by their side.
The team is going through a bad patch since its establishment decades ago. Cheetahs dropped from position three to six and now stare relegation in the face.
They will have to play in the promotional playoffs against Eastern Province Kings on Friday, October 19, in order to survive an unusual situation they wrought for the first time
since 1988.
A dispirited fan, Marius Van der Merwe said the poor performances had torn their hearts apart.
“They have disappointed us and this has killed rugby in the province. Players pretended they had the guts to win but they did the opposite on the field of play,” he moaned.
He said that sponsors should start withdrawing their support for an ailing side that was touted as favourites to win the league.
“No sponsors would like to be associated with losers. I wish they could terminate their contracts with the club and take their investments to other hard working clubs not Cheetahs because it has let us down terribly,” he said.
However, Free State Rugby Union has been quite for sometime about the possibility of firing the club’s mentor and former Springbok hooker coach Naka Drotske and his assistant Hawie Fourie. Cheetahs have to win the match to retain sponsorship and be able to play in the same league next season.
But many people believe that it won’t be easy for the Bloem-based outfit to defeat the hard working Kings.
“This is a real do-or-die fixture for Drotske’s boys. It is late for them to make inroads and have they missed great chances when they should have balanced their matches so they avoid the situation they are now under.”
Public Eye learnt that leadership of the FSRU plans to fire Drotske if the club loses to the Kings and fails to secure a position in the Premier division of the Absa Currie Cup rugby.
Everyone at the Union is praying for the local side to win so they can keep their jobs because all of the sponsors have made the union aware of possible termination of the contracts.
Among the sponsors likely to withdraw is the headline sponsor, Toyota who has been part of the team since next year. FSRU President Lyndsey Mould said changes have to be made after Friday’s match.
“Whether we beat the EP Kings on Friday or not, I want to get all the decision makers together and if we have to act aggressively, we will do that,” Mould said.
“A lot of things have gone wrong this season and we have played without a number of our stalwarts, but that is no excuse. There simply isn’t any excuse.”
Cheetahs bosses could not fire coach Drotske, although he hasn’t performed well both in the Vodacom Super Rugby series and Currie Cup since their last victory in 2007.
Mould added that relegation would bring a great loss to the union. “If we are to be relegated, it will have major consequences for the Free State Rugby Union. We will lose sponsorships and that will mean that everybody’s jobs will be on the line. Friday night is all that the players and management must focus on, nothing else,” he said.
Meanwhile Free State Cheetahs Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Harold Verster defended the team, insisting that the outfit is well managed and that it was too early to talk about firing coaches.
“We have to right the wrongs, no matter how hard it is. In any business if there is trouble, you need to look at the problems and make the necessary decisions to rectify them,” Verster said.
“There are many people who think that Free State Rugby is badly run, but I don’t see it that way. We are a professional entity. When we applied for a Super Rugby franchise, we were second best of all the local teams because of our business plan. The Cheetahs are still run on the same plan.”
He said people were apprehensive about the club’s involvement in the Super Rugby but the side had managed to surprise them.