Responding to his infamous speech three years ago, Watson for the first time admitted to making the remark on Radio 702’s Sports Talk. The daddy’s boy from Port Elizabeth said it was one of his greatest regrets.
“I have tried to deny it in the past, but the fact of the matter is I slipped up and made a mistake. In a heated debate and discussion, I used those words. It is the one thing in my life that I regret more than anything. It’s something that even to this day I am deeply ashamed and deeply embarrassed about, because I have loads of Afrikaans friends, loads of people in my life that have supported me and invested in me in the Afrikaans community.”
Watson is captain of his father Cheeky Watson’s Southern Kings franchise who will play in Super Rugby for the first time this year. The Kings will play in the Super Rugby competition at the expense of the Lions. It will be the first time a team from that region has played Super Rugby since 1994 when Eastern Province played in the old Super 10 series.The Kings start their campaign against Australia’s Western Force in Port Elizabeth on 23 February.
Meanwhile the South African Rugby Union (SARU) has turned down the Southern Kings request to include five foreigners in its Super Rugby squad. The Kings named a 40-man squad this month for their debut season, with five overseas players included. But SARU has ruled only two foreigners can play meaning the likes of Auckland recruit Hadleigh Parkes, Counties Manukau’s Kenyan lock Daniel Adongo or Argentina halfback Nicolas Vergallo could be out of a job.
Earlier rugby administrator and former anti-apartheid ectivist Watson argued the existence of the Kings was necessary to develop ‘local’ talent. He took no time to appoint his son as captain of the Kings.
Luke explained in his radio interview that his intention in his infamous speech in which he said he felt like puking on the Springbok rugby jersey was to highlight the imbalances he believed existed in South African rugby and not to take a shot at Afrikaans people. He assured that he does not stand by those words with the Kings less than a month away from making their Super Rugby debut.
“I cannot be more opposed to venomous talk like that today. I never meant it in that [a derogatory] regard. Do I believe that there is still a massive need for transformation in this South African rugby? Yes. Do I believe that South African rugby is still controlled by white people? Yes.
“That black people are not afforded the same opportunities that they should be afforded? The black community is not invested in, in the way it should be? Yes. But the word Dutchmen will never leave my mouth again and I’m bitterly disappointed in myself that I did use the word,” said Watson.
Watson also admitted to making a remark that insinuated that South African rugby made him so nauseous that he wanted to vomit on the Springbok jersey and spoke about his controversial inclusion in the Springbok squad.
