Thrilling final adds gloss to troubled Super 14

Despite being plagued by boardroom strife and a horrific incident of crowd hooliganism, the troubled EC Super 14 club rugby tournament ended on a high note thanks to a thrilling final in Humansdorp on Saturday.

For varying reasons — both good and bad — the 2023 event will rank as arguably the most memorable and controversial since the tournament kicked off in 2011.

Many neutrals had been hoping for a fairy-tale ending for small-town club Kruisfontein United who had battled the odds to reach the final of the Eastern Cape’s biggest tournament.

But, despite delivering a stirring display in front of their army of Purple Force supporters, Kruisfontein were unable to get the better of a powerful EL Police outfit at the Sports Complex in Humansdorp.

Saturday’s final was watched by a well-behaved crowd of about 4,000 fans who crammed into the small arena.

The all-conquering Bobbies went through the season unbeaten and were worthy winners of an event plagued by problems from the opening day of the season.

There were also a sickening act of hooliganism when a Harlequins player was stabbed by a spectator after his team had beaten Jeffreys Bay.

The traumatic image of a Harlequins player being attacked dragged rugby’s name through the mud and officials must ensure this never happens again.

Administrators will have learnt tough lessons over the past few weeks about the skills needed to run a successful tournament.

It appears there are still problems where clubs feel promises were broken, and hopefully these issues will be sorted out amicably and as soon as possible.

In midseason, seven concerned EPRU clubs requested an urgent meeting with the Super 14 steering committee raise concerns regarding several issues.

The clubs wanted to discuss numerous areas where they felt there was insufficient transparency or open communication between the steering committee and participating clubs.

It had become  clear organisers were having serious financial problems accommodating guest teams East Rand United and Crusaders, who were eventually withdrawn.

From the outset, questions were asked as to why organisers had opted to increase the successful tournament from 14 to 16 teams.

Maybe the lesson for Super 14 organisers is that less is sometimes more.