EP Rugby referees are fed up

The Eastern Province Rugby Referees Society expressed their concerns of the on going and escalating levels of verbal and physical harassment at certain club rugby matches.

“We initially received a notification from the Referees Society today that they were downing tools due to the ongoing harassment that their members were exposed to at club games. While we do not condone the method in which the referees dealt with the issue - as we have protocols in place to deal with such matters - following discussions held with representatives from the referees we have decided to cancel all games this coming weekend in sympathy with their concerns,” said EPRU President, Cheeky Watson.

Citing threats of bodily harm and incidents wherein referees have been spat on and have had to be physically protected by players and executive members, and one recent instance where a referee’s tyres were slashed after a game, were some of their concerns raised.

“We as a union feel that this is simply unacceptable and will not condone this type of behaviour in any form whatsoever. We have already notified the clubs that all games for this coming weekend have been cancelled and have called on the clubs to address the issue of the abuse towards referees as a matter of urgency,” said Watson.

Watson said the service offered by referees to the clubs was often a thankless task, with referees having to sacrifice time away from family and other interests to assist with the development of rugby at grassroots level.

Clubs had already been informed that they would now be responsible for the safety of the referees at any home game they hosted, and that they needed to educate their spectators regarding their conduct at games.

“We have also made it clear that, going forward, any club that fails to address this matter will face the harshest of actions which the union can impose,” said Watson.

EP Kings crushes Eagles in George

The Eastern Province Kings beat the SWD Eagles at Outeniqua Park in George on Friday evening, with a convincing 78 (28) to 32 (25) victory.

The game got off to a somewhat rocky start for the Kings, with the SWD Eagles opening the scoreboard with a penalty conversion off the boot of Aldred James in the 6th minute.

The EP Kings retaliated with a try by Lizo Gqoboka just two minutes later, with a successful conversion by Gary van Aswegen to take the team to a 7 – 3 lead, but their momentum was broken a few minutes later as Lizo Gqoboka received a yellow card and the Kings were left  fending off a determined SWD Eagles team.

SWD made use of the opportunity and Buran Parks added five points with a try of his own, successfully converted by James. SWD’s Juandre Fourie then dotted down a try of his own, off a great break by fellow player Clint Wageman.  
The try was again successfully converted by James, taking the home team to 17 against the Kings 7.

The Kings suffered another blow with Gqoboka just returning to the field when Paul Schoeman was sent off with a yellow card. James converted the resulting penalty, extending the lead to 20 for the home team.

Charl du Plessis helped the Kings with a try in the far corner, converted by Van Aswegen. The Eagles capitalised on their superior numbers and Hentzwill Pedro broke away with a 50m run, dotting the ball in the corner, but James missed the conversion taking the home team to 25 against the Kings 15.

With Schoeman back on the field the Kings put the pressure on and kept SWD inside their own 22, and after repeat offenses referee Quintin Immelman had no option but to send off SWD’s Lyle Dilo with a yellow card and award the Kings a penalty try, neatly converted by van Aswegen to take the Kings to 22.

Siyanda Grey secured the Kings the lead as the half time whistle blew with a try of his own, and another conversion by Van Aswegen, taking the Kings to 28 against SWD 25 at half time.

A more composed Kings team took to the field in the second half, with Du Plessis adding the first points in the second half with his second try of the evening and van Aswegen converting.

Schoeman made up for his yellow card earlier with a try of his own three minutes later. Van Aswegen missed the conversion.

Shortly after Pedro got his second try of the evening, and James converted in what was to be the last points for the Eagles, taking them to 32.

The floodgates then opened up with Paul Perez dotting in two tries in quick succession for the visitors, with one converted by George Whitehead who came on for Van Aswegen.

Shaun McDonald then crossed the whitewash, neatly converted by Whitehead, taking the Kings to 59. Whitehead then ran in a try of his own, neatly beneath the posts, with a drop kick conversion, taking the score to 66.

Paul Schoeman then scored two more tries, with Whitehead converting the first, taking the Kings to 78 as the final whistle blew.

Scorers:

SWD EAGLES (32) - Tries: Buran Parks, Juandre Fourie, Hentzwill Petro (2)
Conversions: Aldred James (3)
Penalties: Aldred James (2)

EP KINGS (78) - Tries: Lizo Gqoboka, Charl du Plesis (2), Siyanda Grey, Paul Schoeman (3), Paul Perez (2), Shaun McDonald, George Whitehead, penalty try.
Conversion: Gary van Aswegen (5), George Whitehead (4)

EP Kings to play Eagles

Carlos Spencer has announced an expanded team of 26 players to tackle the SWD Eagles in George on Friday evening.

Spencer, who has yet to decide on the captaincy of the squad following Luke Watson’s absence due to a slight rib injury, has made eight changes to his starting line up in comparison to the game against the Sharks XV last week.

Up front, Edgar Marutlulle will start at hooker in place of Albé de Swardt, who moves to the bench. Lizo Gqoboka and Charl du Plessis, stay on at loosehead and tighthead respectively.

David Bullbring and Steven Cummins swop places, but stay in the starting lineup. Paul Schoeman comes in at 6 in place of Thembelani Bholi, and will be accompanied at flank by Stefan Willemse in place of Devin Oosthuizen.

Aidon Davis will take eighthman, in place of Watson, who left the field after 20 minutes against the Sharks XV at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium last week with a rib injury.

Spencer said Watson’s injury was not as bad as first expected and that he would be able to start training again next week.

Jaco Grobler takes over from Tobie Botes at scrumhalf, while Gary van Aswegen gets another run at flyhalf.

Sergeal Petersen comes up from the bench to take Siviwe Soyizwapi’s spot at wing, while Dwayne Jenner comes in at inside centre for Shane Gates, having recovered from a concussion during the game against Wales. Gates moves to the bench, with Spencer saying that he was being rested following a slight calf strain.

Tim Whitehead remains at outside centre, getting his third game in a row, as Ronnie Cooke is still out due to injury.
Scott van Breda also gets a break, with Ntabeni Dukisa coming in at fullback.

Notably on the bench is Paul Perez, who Spencer says is keen to get back out and play some rugby. “The coaching staff are also looking forward to see what he can do,” he said.

Spencer acknowledged that concerns had been raised that the SWD Eagles would not be fielding a full strength team against the EP Kings.

“It is a concern for us, same as with the Bulls and the Sharks, but right now it’s about us, not them, and we’re concentrating on what we have to work on,” he said.

The game will take place at Outeniqua Park on Friday, 11th of July 2014, kicking off at 19:00.

EP Kings:  
1. Lizo Gqoboka 2. Edgar Marutlulle 3. Charl du Plessis 4. David Bulbring 5. Steven Cummins 6. Paul Schoeman 7. Stefan Willemse 8. Aidon Davis 9. Jaco Grobler 10. Gary van Aswegen 11. Sergeal Petersen 12. Dwayne Jenner 13. Tim Whitehead 14. Siyanda Grey 15. Ntabeni Dukisa  

Replacements:
16. Albé de Swardt 17. Tom Botha 18. BG Uys 19. Darron Nell 20. Shaun McDonald 21. Cameron Lindsay 22. Kevin Luiters 23. George Whitehead 24. Shane Gates 25. Paul Perez 26. Hansie Graaff

EP U19 to face Bulls

The Eastern Province U19 team is ready to face the Bulls U19 in their first match of the season at Loftus on Friday afternoon.

The team will be captained by CJ Velleman, who made his provincial debut earlier this year for the EP Kings at Vodacom Cup level.

“We are really looking forward to the season; we know it is going to be a big challenge this year and that we will have to up our game as we will be playing A division this year after winning the promotion relegation match against Border last year,” said U19 head coach, Mzwandile Stick.

“This is also a great opportunity for our youngsters, who will now be playing top competitive rugby in their age group, which can mean good things for the Union going forward,” he said.

Stick said the team, which included a number of top players from the Eastern Province school system, including the likes of Velleman, Tyler Paul and Malcolm Jaer, were expecting a tough game against the Bulls.

“We know that they have a strong forward pack and some talented players, including some who were part of the SA U20 squad, so we are expecting a very physical game,” he said.

“This is the first game of the season, it’s their home ground, so we know the Bulls are going to come hard, but we have also some talented players and we’re up for the challenge,” said Stick.

Kickoff is at 3pm.

EP Kings u19:
1. Thembelihle Yase 2. Jean-Pierre (JP) Jamieson 3. Chris Whitting 4. Wynand Grassmann 5. Sintu Manjezi 6. Cyril-John (CJ) Velleman  (Capt) 7. Tyler Paul 8. Mihlali Nchukana 9. Jason Baggott 10. Jason Vers 11. Lindelwe Zungu 12. Luan Nieuwoudt 13.  Dominik Uytenbogaardt 14. Thabani Mgugudo 15. Malcolm Jaer      
Replacements:
16. Arno Lotter 17. James Beyl 18. David Murray 19. Gerrit Huisamen 20. Qhama Mvimbi 21. Kewan Gibb 22. Luzuko Mase 23. Julio Abels

EPRU thank rugby fans for their support

The Eastern Province Rugby Union have thanked the people of Nelson Mandela Bay, the greater Eastern Cape and elsewhere for coming out in their numbers to support the Test Match held at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

“It was an amazing atmosphere, Nelson Mandela Bay have once again shown that they support top flight rugby in the province and for that we are truly thankful,” said EP Rugby CEO Charl Crous.

Crous said that while it was not a complete sellout, the official attendance for Saturday’s game between South Africa and Scotland was 40,973, making it the best attended Test Match of the 4 match Incoming Tour series. The World XV brought in just over 30,000, Kings Park hosted 38,000 and Mbombela Stadium hosted around 25,500.

Crous also thanked all the stakeholders involved, from the traffic officials and volunteers to the stadium management and hospitality, that made the event the success that it was.

“We would also like to thank SA Rugby for allowing us to host the Springboks once again, and the Springboks and their team management for their superb performance on the field,” he said.

EP Rugby President, Cheeky Watson, said the fact that Nelson Mandela Bay came out and supported top flight rugby strengthened the region’s position when it came to securing future Tests and other events.

“We have seen the support with Super Rugby, with the Nelson Mandela Bay leg of the IRB International Sevens tournament and at the three Test Matches we have hosted at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. People in the Eastern Cape love rugby and want to see more of it and we are going to do what we can to make that happen,” he said.

EPRU

Vodacom Cup: EP Kings v Boland

EP Kings v Boland

Date: 11 April 2014

Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium

Kick-off: 19:00

Televised: Super Sport 1

EP Kings:

15 Massixole Banda 14 Eben Barnard 13 Michael Bernardt 12 Andile Jho 11 Ofentse Boloko 10 Ntabeni Dukisa 9 Dwayne Kelly 8 Aidon Davis 7 Stefan Willemse 6 Thembelani Bholi 5 Cameron Lindsay 4 Louis Fourie 3 Pieter Stemmet 2 Albe de Swardt (C) 1 Lizo Gqoboka

Replacements:

16 Dane van der Westhuyzen 17 Simon Kerrod 18 Tyler Paul 19 Siphesihle Punguzwa 20 Kayle van Zyl 21 Morne Hugo 22 Brian Skosana

Coach: Mzwandile Stick

Boland:

15 Junaid Arendse 14 Cheslyn Roberts 13 Edwin Sass 12 Albert Trytsman 11 Arno Fortuin 10 Christian Rust 9 Marnus Hugo 8 Pretorius Conway 7 Chaney Willemse 6 Franzel September 5 John Astle (C) 4 Johannes Kitshoff 3 Martin Dreyer 2 Clemen Lewis 1 Khewzilokusa Mkhafu    

Replacements:

16 Stephanus Petrus Wessels 17 Keenan Abrahams 18 Philippus van Zyl 19 Dumisane Meslane 20 Juwell Samuals 21 Brendon April 22 Harlon Klaasen

Coach: Abe Davids

Referees:

Juan Sylvestre

AR1 Chris du Preez

AR2 Mark Norris

TMO:

Jason Japhta

Touch Isithembiso #2

Isithembiso Babies Home had its second touch rugby fundraiser on Saturday. The tournament consisted of ten teams playing round-robin matches across two pools. The pool stages were followed by the two top teams from each pool advancing to the semi-finals.

Isithembiso officially opened their doors on the 1st of November 2005, and has cared for more than 60 babies to date. Isithembiso is a place of safety for children between the ages of 0-3 years who have been abandoned, abused, neglected or orphaned. We work hand in hand with social services to find these children new families or to reunite them with their biological family according to their individual case.

Isithembiso's mission is to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves. Proverbs 31 v 8-9 “Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor & needy.” Secondly, to reach the community by providing a safe home for these children.

Isithembiso relies solely on the donations of individuals and businesses to run from month to month. Some of their expenses include rent, the salaries of the 6 staff members, rates and the general running of the household.

 

If you would like to get involved in assisting them in any way or visit the home so that you can get a better idea of what they do and who they are doing it for, you can contact Carmen Faragher, Home administrator, to set up an appointment.

 

For any further information please feel free to check out their website www.isithembiso.org and/or ‘LIKE’ their facebook page. You can also contact them on 041 581 0374.

Last years winners, the Trojans, played the Aapies in the one semi-final and the Slayers played the Hedgehogs in the other. 

The Aapies beat the Trojans to face the Slayers as they qualified for the final after beating the Hedgehogs.

The Aapies beat the Slayers in the final as they outscored them 9 tries to 2.

Runners-up: The Slayers

Winners: Aapies

Thank you to everyone that came out to support this worthy cause.

If you would like to get involved in assisting Isithembiso in any way or visit the home so that you can get a better idea of what they do and who they are doing it for, you can contact Carmen Faragher, Home administrator, to set up an appointment on 041 581 0374.

Madibaz back to winning ways

NMMU Madibaz kept their play-off hopes alive when they beat the 2013 Varsity Cup Champions UP-Tuks 19 - 9 in extremely difficult conditions at the Tuks Rugby Stadium in Pretoria on Monday night. 

The rainy conditions made it difficult to play with ball in hand and both teams had to settle with early penalties. Scores were level at 4 all after the first quarter, but it was however the Madibaz that crossed the line for the first and only try of the first half when Tythan Adams went over in the corner. Gavin Hauptfleisch missed the conversion as Madibaz went into the half time break leading 9 - 4.

Madibaz came out strong in the second half, and the pressure paid off when captain Roy Godrey went over for his teams second try. Hauptfleisch was successful with the conversion and gave his team a comfortable 17 - 4 lead.

With just over a quarter left, UP-Tuks narrowed the gap to a converted try when flank, Chris Massyn, crossed the line for his teams first try. The conversion was missed by Tian Schoeman as NMMU held on to a 17 - 9 lead.

As the game approached the final 20 minutes, Man of the Match, Hauptfleisch secured the win for Madibaz as he slotted a final penalty to further their lead to 19 - 9. Tuks came at NMMU hard in the dying minutes, but NMMUs defense held on and they were unable to chance anything on the score board, as the game ended 19 - 9 in favour of NMMU. 

The win allowed NMMU to leapfrog Tuks on the log as they moved into 3rd place on 17 points, one point ahead of Tuks and Maties, both on 16.

NMMU will play FNB UFS Shimlas on Monday night at the Xerox Shimlas Park, in a must win game if they want to have any further say in this years Varsity Cup and advance to the play-offs.

“There’s no other way of us getting into the semis apart from winning. We know what we have to do when we get to Bloem on Monday,” said Head coach, David Maidza.

Although sixth-placed Shimlas have trailed Madibaz throughout the tournament, Maidza said they still posed a serious challenge.

“I think Shimlas have been a bit unfortunate in a lot of their games this season and they will definitely have an eye on the semis.”

He said every team was a potential threat; therefore his side would have to ensure that their energy and concentration levels were high and their tactics correct.

“It’s going to be a tough game. We know it’s not going to be easy for us to get through, especially playing away from home.

“Our destiny is in our hands – now we just need to grab it.”

Scorers: 

UP-Tuks - Try: Massyn, Pen: Schoeman 2

NMMU Madibaz - Tries:  Adams, Godfrey, Con: Hauptfleisch, Pen: Hauptfleisch 3

Maidza: "We’re not going to let NMMU down.”

After the best possible start to their 2014 Varsity Cup campaign against Maties and UJ, the NMMU Madibaz have lost two consecutive matches and slipped down to 6th place on the log. 

A record 45 - 29 opening round win against Maties which they followed up with a 21 - 15 win over UJ, but failed to build on that momentum when they lost to Ikeys, 13 - 26, and received a 16 - 52 thumping from the NWU-Pukke boys on Monday night. 

David Maidza, head coach of NMMU, said that his team was simply outplayed on Monday night.

“We were outmuscled, outplayed and outsmarted. Pukke got all the basics right and did everything they were supposed to do.

He said six of Pukke’s seven tries were the result of errors by the Port Elizabeth team.

“You cannot play rugby like that. We need to address the mistakes and fix them as quickly as possible.”

NMMU failed to put any points on the board in the first half, and were trailing 0 - 23 at the break. 

Outside center Michael Bernardt scored NMMU's first try in the 64th minute, his second try followed 2 minutes later, just to bring the score a little bit more pleasing to the eye at 16 - 39 with 14 minutes to go. Pukke however put the final nails in NMMU's coffin as they scored a further two tries to take the final score to 52 - 16.

Maidza is still optimistic and said the competition is still far from over, and that they would go back to basics for the remaining round-robin matches.

“There’s not a chance that we’re going to drop our heads now. It’s going to be up until the last game and we have to play.”

“The players know what is required of them – that we never lie down. I don’t think we can play any poorer than what we did on Monday.”

“We know we’ve dug ourselves into a bit of a hole and it’s our responsibility as a team to get ourselves out of that.

NMMU's next fixture is against Wits at Wits Rugby Stadium in Johannesburg, followed by two more away games against Tuks and Shimlas to finish off the round-robin stages. 

“We’ve just got to make the most of where we are at the moment and concentrate on the next game against Wits.

“We must make sure that we prepare thoroughly and come away with nothing less than a win.”

More than any single result, Maidza said it was vital that they continue moving forward with the plans and ambitions of the club.

“There’s not a chance that we’re going to let our supporters down or the people that want to come to this club. We’re not going to let NMMU down.”

Players, coaches and pre season friendlies

EP Rugby confirmed at the end of last year that they will be playing the Cheetahs, Lions and the Stormers in pre season friendlies at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, in Port Elizabeth. The Southern Kings franchise will take on the Cheetahs in the first friendly in two weeks time, on the 25th of January, followed by the Lions, and finishing off on the 7th of February against the Stormers.

In last years Super Rugby competition, the Southern Kings lost to the Cheetahs 12 - 26 in Bloemfontein and 22 - 34 in their return leg in Port Elizabeth. They pushed the Stormers in Cape Town and narrowly lost out on a losing bonus point, as the final score ended 11 - 19. They failed to produce the goods at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and went down 12 - 24. The Southern Kings faced the relegated Lions in a home and away promotion / relegation match at the end of competition, with the Lions winning the first one in Port Elizabeth with 7 points, 26 - 19. The Southern Kings had to beat the Lions at home by 8 points to secure another year in the competition. At the end they did manage the unexpected by beating the Lions in front of a packed Ellis Park, but were unable to wipe out the 7 point deficit as the game ended 23 - 18, in favour of the Southern Kings.

A max exodus of players and coaches followed after the Southern Kings failed to secure another year in Super Rugby. There were a lot of positives and negatives for the union in their 1 year inclusion as many fringe players stepped up to the plate to be accounted for. The players earned respect as they battled week in and week out against the best in the world. The result was that many left to go play either overseas or to join other South African unions to play Currie Cup. 

Two of them played in the final as Demetri Catrakilis went back to Western Province and SP Marais accepted an offer from the Currie Cup Champions, the Sharks. While Wimpie van der Walt, Andries Strauss, Cornel du Preez and Schalk Ferreira all opted for overseas contracts. And with more local players invited to Super Rugby training camps like Rynier Bernardo and Shane Gates at the Cheetahs and Scott van Breda at the Stormers they could face losing more valuable players. 

With the uncertainty of playing Currie Cup Premier Division the Kings opted to invest in a lot of their u21 players, who did the province proud as they won the B section of the ABSA u21 Competition.

The Kings have also done well to secure new coaching staff as they start rebuilding towards Super Rugby 2016. Director of Rugby, Alan Solomons, parted ways with the Kings to take up a position at Edinburgh Rugby in Scotland. Head Coach, Matt Sexton, went back to New Zealand, and Vodacom Cup and EP Kings Currie Cup coach, David Maidza, took over as head coach at the NMMU Madibaz. The Kings have managed to secure the services of Michael Horak, who's been the defence coach for the Cheetahs since 2010. Former New Zealand fly-half Carlos Spencer, who coached at the Lions and the Sharks, has also signed a 5 year deal as he will be focusing on the back line and skills training. With Solomons position still available, one can only hope the rumours of former Springbok Assistant Coach and Head Coach of Bath Rugby, Gary Gold, are true and he'll make his way to Port Elizabeth in the near future.

Tickets for the friendlies will be available at the EP Rugby offices or at Compu Ticket for R50.