RUGBY NEWS - This time last year, the Border Bulldogs were in a mad scramble to get themselves ready to play in the opening weekend of the SuperSport Rugby Challenge, having narrowly avoided liquidation by the South African Rugby Players’ Association (Sarpa).
With the clock ticking to their game against tournament newcomers Zimbabwe – Sunday week at the festival they are hosting at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane – coach Tiger Mangweni has found that de ja vu isn’t something that only happens in dreams.
Mangweni, who is one of the few people to retain their jobs at the union after it was put under administration pending the stabilisation of their finances meant the vast majority of the staff in East London had to be retrenched, has been combing the club scene in the area looking for players from which to build a team.
This is because Border, much like last year when they were faced with liquidation, have had a government bailout aimed at making sure that they do not miss out on having a professional team while they’re being administered, which would have meant the union would have missed a whole season of first class rugby.
The former Bulls and Stormers fullback now finds himself in this position because the first people to be released when Border ran into financial trouble were the players, whose contracts were not renewed as pro rugby was not envisaged for this year.
Tough and resilient in his playing days, Mangweni never quite acquired the taste of feeling sorry for himself, so he’s hatched a plan: “When the announcement was made about government helping us out Basil (Haddad, SA Rugby’s administrator at Border) phoned me and told me there was a possibility the team would make a comeback.
