Eastern Province Kings

Eastern Province Kings

Full name	Eastern Province Kings
Union	Eastern Province Rugby Union
Founded	1888
Region	Western half of the Eastern Cape, South Africa
Ground(s)	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (Capacity: 48,000)
Director of Rugby	Vacant
Coach(es)	Barend Pieterse
Captain(s)	Schalk Ferreira
League(s)	Currie Cup
2016 Currie Cup Premier Division	9th
Team kit
Official website
www.eprugby.co.za
Current season

The Eastern Province Kings are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup competitions. They are governed by the Eastern Province Rugby Union (EPRU or EP Rugby). The team represents the Western half of the Eastern Cape province, and they play their home games at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.

History

The team was originally a representative team, drawing players from within the provincial union area's local clubs. However, with the advent of professionalism in rugby union in 1995, the team now directly contracts players from various areas. The team now operates more like a professional club, though the EPRU are still responsible for junior representative rugby teams and administrative matters in the region.

Prior to 2010, they were known as the Mighty Elephants, but in order to align themselves with the Super Rugby side the Southern Kings, who are also governed by the EPRU, they changed their name to Eastern Province Kings. The team is the primary feeder to the Southern Kings, which also incorporates the Border Bulldogs and the SWD Eagles.^[1]

Financial problems and liquidation

After late payments of player salaries throughout most of the 2015 season, it came to a head in November 2015, when the EPRU failed to meet a final deadline imposed by the South African Rugby Players Association. All players' contracts were declared null and void, leading to an exodus of players.^[2] A few days later, the South African Rugby Union announced that they would take control of the affiliated Southern Kings Super Rugby franchise,^[3] and released an operational plan in early December which indicated that SARU would operate the franchise independently from the Eastern Province Kings.^[4]

After a petition handed 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,^[5] was not met, the South African Rugby Players' Association submitted a liquidation application in January 2016 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.^[6] The Port Elizabeth High Court provisionally liquidated Eastern Province Rugby in March 2016 and imposed a deadline of 10 May 2016 to pay outstanding player salaries, before the liquidation order would being made final.^[7]

The Eastern Province Kings submitted details of a rescue package to the High Court in May 2016,^[8] which saw the liquidation order being postponed until 4 August 2016. In July 2016, it emerged that the rescue package would not come to fruition and SARU withdrew their appeal against the final liquidation order.^[9] On 4 August 2016, the High Court ruled that the Eastern Province Kings should be liquidated.^[10]

Within hours of the liquidation being finalised, SARU released a statement that an Eastern Province Kings team funded by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality would continue to participate in the 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division.^[11]

Stadium

The team was originally based at St George's Park. They shared the ground with the Eastern Province cricket team.

In 1959, the EPRU decided to move the team to the then named Boet Erasmus Stadium. The stadium was later named Telkom Park, due to a naming rights deal, and then renamed to the current name, the EPRU Stadium. The team played most home matches at the stadium, with a few hosted at other venues in Port Elizabeth and surrounding towns. During the late 2000s, the team shared the stadium with football (soccer) club Bay United.

In 2009, the team played its first match at their current home, the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

Honours

The team's major tournament wins include the 2002 Vodacom Shield, 2010 Currie Cup First Division and 2012 Currie Cup First Division.

Results by season

The table below indicates the Kings' recent finishes. This includes games played as Eastern Province, Eastern Province Kings and Mighty Elephants.

¹ Between 2000 and 2002, the top 4 in each section qualified for the Top 8 tournament, the bottom 3 in each section for the Bankfin Cup.
² In 2005, the top 4 in each section qualified for the Premier Division, the bottom 3 in each section for the First Division.

¹ Between 2001 and 2002, the top 4 in each section qualified for the Vodacom Top 8 tournament, the bottom 3 in each section for the Vodacom Shield.

Current season

Players

The following players were included in the Eastern Province Kings squad for 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division:^[12]

Currie Cup qualification squad

In addition to players above, the following Eastern Province Under-21 and Under-19 players made first class appearances for the Eastern Province Kings in the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series:^[13]

Team Officials

Records

Eastern Province Kings records:^[14]

References

External links

• Official website
• Official Facebook Group (registration required)
• Official Facebook Page
• Official Twitter account
• Kings Army Supporters Club
• Eastern Province Kings on suparugby.com