of the Super 12 to the Super 14, to take place in 2006, South Africa was entitled to add a fifth franchise to its existing four. However, six groups—the four existing franchises, a group representing Free State and Northern Cape, and a group representing the "Southern and Eastern Cape" (SEC) region—submitted proposals for franchises. Since it was generally conceded that the existing franchises would continue in the Super 14, the conflict focused on the other two groups. Eventually, the Free State-Northern Cape group was admitted into the 2006 Super 14 season as the Cheetahs. However, the SEC group was guaranteed a place in the Super 14 in 2007 and 2008. To accommodate them, a promotion/relegation system was instituted. In 2006, the original plan called for the bottom-placed South African Super 14 team to be relegated, with the Spears taking their place. In 2007, the bottom-placed South African team, apart from the Spears, would play a test match with the relegated team from 2006 to determine the fifth South Africa team to play in the 2008 Super 14. Starting with the end of the 2008 season, the Spears would have then been subject to possible relegation via this system. On 8 June 2005, the SA Rugby President's Council signed a binding legal agreement granting the Spears rights in which SA Rugby obligated themselves to financially support them until December 2006, procure sponsors, play in the 2006 Currie Cup and entrenchment in the 2007 and 2008 Super 14 series. This same decision/agreement was then ratified by the SA Rugby Board at a meeting on 2 December 2005, and all these competition fixtures were included in a definitive Franchise Participation agreement, which the Spears signed on 7 February 2006. Currie Cup and Super 14 In 2006, the Spears were to field a side in the Premier Division of the Currie Cup to allow them to build a team for their 2007 Super 14 debut. There was considerable opposition to the Spears automatically joining Super 14 in 2007 from the existing 5 Super 14 teams. The existing teams wanted the Spears to play the lowest ranked South African based team for the spot in the next year's league. One major blow to the Spears' hopes of automatically entering the Super 14 came at the 2006 General Meeting of the SARU when Brian van Rooyen, the controversial president who strongly pushed for the Spears' inclusion