Newlands takes over Cape Town Stadium for Heineken Cup clash to be played in January - Rugby News
A row took place between the administration of Western Province Rugby Union and the mayor of Cape Town, Patricia De Lille, on Wednesday, Novemebr 16, over the hosting of Heineken Cup fixture where ultimately Cape Town Stadium was snubbed for the clash. According
to the details, a Heineken Cup encounter between English club Saracens and French club Biarritz was scheduled to be played in Cape Town Stadium but yesterday it was decided to shift the match to Newlands venue.
Tobie Titus the president of Western Province Rugby Union told the media on November 16 that it has been unanimously decided to place the match at Newlands. Titus further explained that the matter was brought under discussion in the union executive committee
meeting which ruled out Cape Town Stadium from hosting the proposed match. He argued that Newlands is the current home of Western Province Rugby Union so it should be given the hosting rights.
He added that the constitution of South African Rugby Union is quite clear about the row as it favours the hosting side to determine the venue for scheduled clash. He underscored the opinion of Saracens that the decision could harm the historic fame of Cape
Town Stadium and said that they decided to allot the match to Newlands because of the great fan following there.
He further supported the decision of changing the venue and said that, “It’s a decision that had to be taken and we made it in the interest of the union and rugby fans. We have season ticket holders and suite owners that have to be considered, so why shift
the game to another venue?”
The mayor of Cape Town De Lille also expressed his views about the issue and said that, “The Cape Town Stadium was approached to host the Saracens versus Biarritz Heineken Cup match taking place on January 14. The city was then informed that Saracens had
taken a business decision to locate the match at Cape Town Stadium.”
Heineken Cup 2011-12 was kicked off on November 12 and its second round will be starting from 18th of this month.
Tags: