2016 Eastern Province Kings season

2016 Eastern Province Kings season

Team Information
Stadium	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
President	Cheeky Watson
Currie Cup
Coach	Robbi Kempson
Captain	Jeremy Ward
Rank	13th
Record	Won 1, Lost 3
Top points scorer	Courtney Winnaar (23)
Top try scorer	Courtney Winnaar (3)
Other seasons
Previous season	← 2015
Next season	2017 →

In 2016, the Eastern Province Kings will participate in the Currie Cup competition. The Eastern Province U21 team will play in the 2016 Under-21 Provincial Championship and the Eastern Province U19 team in the 2016 Under-19 Provincial Championship.

In addition, the formally affiliated Super Rugby franchise, the Southern Kings, will participate in the Super Rugby competition between February and July.^[1] From 2016, the team is controlled directly by SARU, and has no affiliation with the Eastern Province Rugby Union or Eastern Province Kings.^[2]

Chronological list of events

• 2 November 2015: The Eastern Province Rugby Union announced the departure of several players; Enrico Acker, Karlo Aspeling, Eben Barnard, Albé de Swardt, Samora Fihlani, Andile Jho, Paul Schoeman, Kuhle Sonkosi, Claude Tshidibi and George Whitehead all left after their contracts expired, Jaco Grobler and Jan Uys were both given an early release of their contracts and Marlou van Niekerk joined the Pumas on loan.^[3]
• 11 November 2015: Following the failure of the EPRU to meet a deadline to pay their players' salaries, South African Rugby Players Association spokesperson Nyaniso Sam confirmed that all contracted players could sign contracts with other teams.^[4] Centre Tim Whitehead announced that he would be one of the players to leave the Kings.^[5]
• 12 November 2015: Two more players left the EP Kings, with Lizo Gqoboka joining the Blue Bulls^[6] and Tim Agaba also announcing his intention to leave.^[7]
• 14 November 2015: A fourth Kings player announced his departure, with winger Luther Obi joining the Bulls.^[8]
• 16 November 2015: The EP Rugby Union confirmed that Obi and fellow winger Sylvian Mahuza both stated their intention to leave, but also confirmed that Louis Fouché, Carel Greeff, James Hilterbrand, SP Marais, Caylib Oosthuizen, Mark Richards, JC Roos, Jurgen Visser and Stefan Watermeyer have joined the squad and started pre-season training.^[9]
• 17 November 2015: The South African Rugby Union announced that they would take control of the Southern Kings Super Rugby franchise following the ongoing cashflow problems.^[10]
• 27 November 2015: Loose-forward Tim Agaba – who previously stated his intention to leave – and outside back Shakes Soyizwapi are both contracted by the South African Rugby Union for the South African Sevens team on two-year contracts.^[11]
• 2 December 2015: Head coach Brent Janse van Rensburg resigned from his position, with the Boland Cavaliers confirming ongoing talks with Janse van Rensburg about joining their coaching staff.^[12]
• 4 December 2015: The South African Rugby Union, who took control of the Southern Kings Super Rugby side on 17 November, announced their operational plan. As part of the plan, SARU would operate the franchise independently from the Eastern Province Kings, which meant that they would negotiate Super Rugby contracts with identified players, and not necessarily the same players previously signed to Super Rugby contract by the Eastern Province Rugby Union.^[13]
• 7 December 2015: Eastern Province Kings players representative handed a petition to president Cheeky Watson, in which players announced their refusal to play for the Eastern Province Kings or Southern Kings until certain issues were sorted out; these issues included outstanding player salaries, a vote of confidence in the current EPRU executive committee and the appointment of specialists to propose a sustainable funding model for the rugby union.^[14]
• 12 January 2016: English RFU Championship side Jersey announced the signing of EP Kings prop Simon Kerrod.^[15]
• 26 January 2016: Three scholars from Linkside High School were given contracts to join the EP Kings Rugby Academy - lock Hussayn Banzi, fly-half Thabo Matiso and flank Lubabalo Ndamase.^[16]
• 28 January 2016: The South African Rugby Players' Association submitted a liquidation application against EP Rugby (Pty) Ltd on behalf of eighteen Eastern Province Kings players who were not included in the Southern Kings Super Rugby squad for 2016 and have not received their salaries since September 2015.^[17]
• 9 March 2016: The Eastern Province Rugby Union confirm that Kings Academy manager Robbi Kempson would be the head coach of the Eastern Province Kings for the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series.^[18]
• 10 March 2016: The Port Elizabeth High Court provisionally liquidates Eastern Province Rugby, while a failure to pay outstanding player salaries before 10 May 2016 could see the liquidation order being made final.^[19]

Currie Cup

Log

The current log for the 2016 Currie Cup qualification tournament is:^[20]

2016 Currie Cup qualification log
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1	Griquas	4	4	0	0	147	74	+73	20	11	4	0	20
2	Griffons	4	3	0	1	169	100	+69	23	14	2	0	14
3	Western Province (P)	3	3	0	0	93	71	+22	12	9	2	0	14
4	SWD Eagles	5	3	0	2	119	113	+6	14	13	2	0	14
5	Border Bulldogs	4	3	0	1	93	97	−4	13	11	2	0	14
6	Golden Lions XV (P)	4	2	0	2	151	83	+68	20	11	2	2	12
7	Boland Cavaliers	4	2	0	2	98	85	+13	13	9	2	1	11
8	Pumas	4	2	0	2	70	50	+20	5	7	0	2	10
9	Free State XV (P)	3	1	0	2	80	73	+7	13	10	2	2	8
10	Sharks XV (P)	3	1	0	2	105	92	+13	13	14	2	1	7
11	Falcons	4	1	0	3	91	140	−49	14	17	2	1	7
12	Leopards	3	1	0	2	73	126	−53	8	16	1	1	6
13	Eastern Province Kings (P)	4	1	0	3	77	118	−41	11	15	1	0	5
14	Blue Bulls (P)	3	1	0	2	53	85	−32	6	10	0	0	4
15	Welwitschias	4	0	0	4	65	177	−112	9	27	0	0	0
Updated 6 May 2016.

Legend and Competition rules
Legend:
(P)	Qualified to the 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division.		P = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, PD = Points Difference, TF = Tries For, TA = Tries Against, TB = Try Bonus Points, LB = Losing Bonus Points, Pts = Log Points
(F)	Qualified to 2016 Currie Cup First Division.
	Currently in position to qualify for the Premier Division.
	Currently in position to qualify for the First Division.
Competition rules:
Qualification: The six franchise teams, plus the three highest-placed non-franchise teams will qualify to the 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division, the remaining six teams will qualify to the 2016 Currie Cup First Division. Points breakdown: * 4 points for a win * 2 points for a draw * 1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less * 1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match

Round-by-round

Team Progression – 2016 Currie Cup qualification
Team	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	R15	R16
Opposition	SWD	BOL	BDR	WEL	BUL	WPr	FSC	LIO	SHA	Bye	Bye	PMA	GRQ	LEO	GRF	FAL
Cumulative Points	0	0	0	5
Position	15th	14th	14th	13th
Key:	win	draw	loss

Matches

The following matches will be played in the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series:

	9 April 2016	Eastern Province Kings	14–37	SWD Eagles	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
	16:30	Try: penalty try  1' Jeremy Ward  65' Con: Michael Brink  2', 65' (2/2)	Report Scoreboard[21]	Try: Daniel Roberts  3' Martin du Toit  19' Riaan Arends  53' Leighton Eksteen  75' Con: Hansie Graaff  4', 20', 54' (3/3) Jacquin Jansen  76' (1/1) Pen: Hansie Graaff  47', 49', 62' (3/3) Cards: Mzo Dyantyi 2' to 12'	Referee: Craig Joubert

	16 April 2016	Boland Cavaliers	37–18	Eastern Province Kings	Boland Stadium, Wellington
	16:00	Try: Ockie van Zyl  3' Chadley Wenn  17' Zandré Jordaan  54' Danwel Demas  64', 70' Con: Nico Scheepers  4', 18', 71' (3/5) Pen: Nico Scheepers  24', 44' (2/2)	Report[22] Scoreboard[23]	Try: Somila Jho  33' Courtney Winnaar  58' Con: Courtney Winnaar (0/1) Simon Bolze  59' (1/1) Pen: Courtney Winnaar  13', 20' (2/3) Simon Bolze (0/1) Cards: Tazz Fuzani 16' to 26' Sintu Manjezi 51' to 61'	Referee: Francois Pretorius

	23 April 2016	Eastern Province Kings	14–28	Border Bulldogs	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
	14:00	Try: Simon Bolze  30' Courtney Winnaar  80' Con: Simon Bolze  31' (1/1) Courtney Winnaar  81' (1/1) Cards: Franswa Ueckermann 43' to 53'	Report[24] Scoreboard[25]	Try: Michael Makase  46' Siyamthanda Ngande  60' Ludwe Booi  71' Oliver Zono  77' Con: Oliver Zono  47', 61', 72', 78' (4/4) Pen: Coyi Banda (0/1) Oliver Zono (0/2)	Referee: AJ Jacobs

	30 April 2016	Welwitschias	18–31	Eastern Province Kings	Hage Geingob Stadium, Windhoek
	16:00	Try: Johann Tromp  20', 57' Con: Shaun Kaizemi  58' (1/2) Pen: Shaun Kaizemi  38', 45' (2/2) Cards: Shaun du Preez 14' to 24' Leneve Damens 15' to 25'	Report Scoreboard[26]	Try: SF Nieuwoudt  9' Courtney Winnaar  17' Somila Jho  34' Sphu Msutwana  51' Athi Mayinje  74' Con: Simon Bolze  18' (1/2) Athi Mayinje  35', 75' (2/3)	Referee: Pro Legoete

	7 May 2016	Eastern Province Kings	v	Blue Bulls	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

	14 May 2016	Western Province	v	Eastern Province Kings	Newlands Stadium, Cape Town

	21 May 2016	Eastern Province Kings	v	Free State Cheetahs	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

	28 May 2016	Golden Lions	v	Eastern Province Kings	Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg

	4 June 2016	Eastern Province Kings	v	Sharks	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

	25 June 2016	Pumas	v	Eastern Province Kings	Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit

	2 July 2016	Eastern Province Kings	v	Griquas	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

	9 July 2016	Leopards	v	Eastern Province Kings	Olën Park, Potchefstroom

	16 July 2016	Eastern Province Kings	v	Griffons	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

	23 July 2016	Falcons	v	Eastern Province Kings	Barnard Stadium, Kempton Park

Player Appearances

The player appearance record in the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series is as follows:

Eastern Province Kings
Name	SWD	BOL	BDR	WEL	BUL	WPr	FSC	LIO	SHA	PMA	GRQ	LEO	GRF	FAL		App	Try	Kck	Pts
David Murray	1	1			17											2	0	0	0
Warrick Venter	2	2	2	2	16											4	0	0	0
Louis Albertse	3	3	3	3	3											4	0	0	0
Philip du Preez	4	18	18	18	18											4	0	0	0
Tazz Fuzani	5	4	4	4												4	0	0	0
JP Jonck	6	6	6		6											3	0	0	0
Sintu Manjezi	7	7	7	7	4											4	0	0	0
Junior Pokomela	8	8	8													3	0	0	0
Chuma Faas	9		20	20												3	0	0	0
Michael Brink	10															1	0	4	4
Athi Mayinje	11	22	14	14	14											4	1	4	9
Jeremy Ward	12		12		12											2	1	0	5
Somila Jho	13	13	13	13	22											4	2	0	10
Jixie Molapo	14	14														2	0	0	0
Keanu Vers	15		22													2	0	0	0
JP Jamieson	16	16		16												3	0	0	0
Vukile Sofisa	17	17		17												3	0	0	0
Stephan Zaayman	18			19	19											2	0	0	0
SF Nieuwoudt	19	19	19	6	7											4	1	0	5
Cornell Hess	20	5	5	5	5											4	0	0	0
Davron Cameron	21	20		9												3	0	0	0
Courtney Winnaar	22	15	15	15												4	3	8	23
Franswa Ueckermann		9	9		9											2	0	0	0
Simon Bolze		10	10	10												3	1	6	11
Lindelwe Zungu		11	11	11	15											3	0	0	0
Sphu Msutwana		12		21	11											2	1	0	5
Riaan Esterhuizen		21	21													2	0	0	0
Nicolaas Oosthuizen			1													1	0	0	0
Tango Balekile			16													1	0	0	0
Greg Jackson			17													1	0	0	0
Liam Hendricks				1	1											1	0	0	0
Jacques Engelbrecht				8	8											1	0	0	0
JP du Plessis				12	13											1	0	0	0
Yaw Penxe				22												1	0	0	0
Martin Bezuidenhout					2											0	0	0	0
Garrick Mattheus					10											0	0	0	0
Sibusiso Ngcokovane					20											0	0	0	0
Jordan Koekemoer					21											0	0	0	0
penalty try																–	1	–	5
Total																4	11	22	77
Lusanda Badiyana, Thaki Boloko, Brandon Brown, Wynand Grassmann, Gerrit Huisamen, Tyler Paul, Warren Swarts, Hayden Tharratt and Roché van Zyl were named in the Currie Cup qualification squad, but not included in a matchday squad.

Varsity Rugby

The Eastern Province Kings Rugby Academy is based at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth and most of the academy players played Varsity Rugby; either for the NMMU Madibaz in the Varsity Cup or for the NMMU Young Guns in the Under-20 competition.

The following players were included in the Varsity Rugby squads:^[27]

2016 NMMU Madibaz squad

Forwards		Tango Balekile • Ronnie Beyl • Brandon Brown • Wynand Grassmann • Jedwyn Harty • Gerrit Huisamen • JP Jamieson • Kevin Kaba • Marzuq Maarman • SF Nieuwoudt • Andisa Ntsila • Nicolaas Oosthuizen • Tyler Paul • Junior Pokomela • Jayson Reinecke • Nemo Roelofse • Hayden Tharratt • Elandré van der Merwe • Warrick Venter • Did not play: • Lusanda Badiyana • Greg Jackson • JP Jonck • Sintu Manjezi • Roché van Zyl • CJ Velleman • Xandré Vos
Backs		Simon Bolze • Luvo Claassen • Ivan-John du Preez • Riaan Esterhuizen • Andile Jho • Tom Kean • Ivan Ludick • Khaya Malotana • Yamkela Ngam • Sibusiso Ngcokovane • Luan Nieuwoudt • Warren Swarts • Keanu Vers • Jeremy Ward • Lindelwe Zungu • Did not play: • Davron Cameron • Malcolm Jaer • Somila Jho • Garrick Mattheus • Athi Mayinje • Charles Radebe • Franswa Ueckermann • Courtney Winnaar
Coach		David Maidza

See also

• Eastern Province Kings
• Southern Kings
• 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division
• 2016 Under-21 Provincial Championship
• 2016 Under-19 Provincial Championship

References

1. "SANZAR boss Greg Peters confirms South Africa will get a sixth Super Rugby franchise from 2016". Herald Sun. 4 September 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
2. "SARU takes control of Kings". Rugby365. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
3. "EP rugby players released from contracts". AlgoaFM. 2 November 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
4. "Kings facing player exodus?". Rugby365. 11 November 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
5. "Fresh Kings crisis looms as players look to pull out". Daily Despatch. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
6. "Bulls snap up Gqoboka". SuperSport. 13 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
7. "Agaba joins EP Kings exodus". Rugby365. 13 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
8. "Haastige Obi groet Kings óók". Netwerk24 (in Afrikaans). 14 November 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
9. "EP Rugby Statement". Rugby15. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
10. "SARU steps in to assist the Southern Kings Super Rugby franchise" (Press release). South African Rugby Union. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
11. "New recruits Soyizwapi, Agaba in strong Academy line-up for Dubai" (Press release). South African Rugby Union. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
12. "Coach joins Kings exodus". Rugby365. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
13. "SA Rugby unveils Southern Kings management team and operational plan" (Press release). South African Rugby Union. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
14. "EP Kings players hand over petition to Watson". Rugby15. 7 December 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
15. "New prop joins Jersey RFC squad" (Press release). Jersey RFC. 12 January 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
16. "PE youngsters join Kings Academy". Rugby365. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
17. "Southern Kings unaffected by liquidation application against EP Rugby (Pty) Ltd". South African Rugby Union. 28 January 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
18. "EP Kings Currie Cup preparations on track, despite financial difficulties". Rugby15. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
19. "EP Rugby provisionally liquidated". Herald Live. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
20. "2016 Currie Cup qualification log". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
21. "SA Rugby Match Centre – EP Kings 14-37 SWD Eagles". South African Rugby Union. 9 April 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
22. "Cavaliers finish on a high". South African Rugby Union. 16 April 2016. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
23. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Boland Cavaliers 37-18 EP Kings". South African Rugby Union. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
24. "Three straight wins for Bulldogs". South African Rugby Union. 25 April 2016. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
25. "SA Rugby Match Centre – EP Kings 14-28 Border". South African Rugby Union. 23 April 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
26. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Windhoek Draught Welwitschias 18-31 EP Kings". South African Rugby Union. 30 April 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
27. "2016 NMMU Madibaz Varsity Cup season". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 26 January 2016.