Hard work pays off for U21s

The Eastern Province Kings, winners of Group B, played the bottom of Group A finishers, Border, in a promotion match for a spot in next year's Group A of the ABSA Under 21 Competition on Friday at the BCM Stadium in East London. 

After a slow first half the floodgates opened for the Kings in the second half as they scored 38 points, to add to their 26 from the first half. 

Border took an early lead after Devandre Sissing kicked a penalty 7 minutes into the game, Border leading 3 - 0. Sissing had an oppertunity to add a further 6 points, but failed with two penalties.  

The Kings only managed to score their first points on the 20th minute through an Aidon Davis try, Selvyn Davids converted to give his team a 7 - 3 lead. 

Davids converted his own try 5 minutes later as the Kings stretched their lead to 14 - 3. 

Sissing added another 3 points for Border, but it was quickly erased as CJ Velleman scored his teams third try. Davids added the extras as the Kings took a 21 - 6 lead with 5 minutes to half time. 

Border took every point on offer as Sissing added another three points, but Kings acted quickly as they crossed the line for another five pointer just before half time, this time through Malcolm Jaer. Davids was unsuccessful with the conversion, as the Kings went into the break with a comfortable 26 - 9 lead. 

The Kings scored three unanswered tries within the first ten minutes of the second half. Velleman scored his second of the evening, followed by two from Sergeal Petersen. Davids converted two out of the three as the Kings took a 45 - 9 lead. 

Stephan Zaayman scored 10 minutes later, and with another successful conversion by Davids, the Kings led 52 - 9 with 20 minutes to go. 

The Kings finished the game with a further two tries, the first through replacement wing, Warren Swarts, followed by replacement centre Jaco Bernardo. Davids converted his seventh try of the evening with Petersen taking a shot at the last conversion, but failed to add a further two points as the game ended, 64 - 9, in favour of the Kings. 

The win means that all three teams, the U19, U21 and EP Kings will all compete in the top divisions of their respective competitions in 2015. 

Scorers: 

Border U21 (9) - Penalties: Devandre Sissing (3) 

EP U21 (64) - Tries: Aidon Davis, CJ Velleman (2), Jaco Bernardo, Malcolm Jaer, Selvyn Davids, Sergeal Petersen (2), Stephan Zaayman, Warren Swarts. Conversions: Davids (7) 

Sunridge Super Spar Touchies

The Sunridge Super Spar Touch Rugby Tournament returns to Parks Rugby Club on Saturday the 8th of November.

The popular annual event, now in it's 3rd year, will consist of 30 teams contesting in 3 groups. The teams will be divided into the, "Pro", "Veterans" and "Beer" groups with each group consisting of 10 teams per group.

With sponsors like USN, Aquelle, Score Energy Drink, Virgin Active and Radio Algoa the winning teams can expect a lot of great prizes.

The Player of the Tournament will also enjoy a lovely weekend away courtesy of Grootnek Guest Farm. Former EP Kings player, Kayle van Zyl was the Player of the Tournament in last years event.

The likes of former Eastern Province players, Fabian Juries, Justin Peach, Monty du Mont and Elrich van Vuuren have all played in previous tournaments.

Rugby will not be the only thing on the menu, there will also be a "potjie kos" competition, a dog show and live music to entertain the entire family. There will also be "Braai" facilities, just bring your own meat, and a beer tent available. First round of games start at 9am.

For more info on how to get involved or to enter a team for the "touchies" please contact Christo on 072 238 4463 and Gerrie on 083 261 9670 to enter the "potjie kos" competition.

 Come down and support the biggest one touch rugby tournament in the Eastern Cape.

EP U21s too strong for Border

The EP Kings U21 side beat the Border U21s, 64 - 9, in a promotion/relegation match at the BCM Stadium in East London on Friday evening.

The Kings scored 10 tries to book their place in the A Division of next year's ABSA Under 21 Competition.

Post match to follow....

Scorers:
Border U21 (9) - Penalties: Devandre Sissing (3)

EP U21 (64) - Tries: Aidon Davis, CJ Velleman (2), Jaco Bernardo, Malcolm Jaer, Selvyn Davids, Sergeal Petersen (2), Stephan Zaayman, Warren Swarts. Conversions: Davids (7)

Getting that "bulldog" off their backs

Eastern Province Kings U21 head coach, Ryan Felix, has named his team to take on the Border Bulldogs U21 team in East London on Friday evening in the battle for the right to play in the A division of the ABSA Currie Cup U21 Competition next year.

The EP Kings U21 side have had a phenomenal season, having won the B Division final against arch rivals SWD last week and bringing the trophy home for the third time in a row.

Felix said the team, once again captained by Kevin Kaba, was fairly unchanged from the team that beat SWD, with just two changes to the starting lineup.

Warrick Venter moves up from the bench to start at hooker, after John Henry Schmitt sustained a knee injury in the final, while Wynand Grassmann takes over from Aidon Davis on the flank as he moves to eigthman to cover for Ivan du Preez who is unavailable due to exams.

There is also two changes to the bench, with Tyrone Rankin called up as replacement hooker, and Jason Baggott coming up for Sonwabo Majola, who is also unavailable due to exams.

“This has been a great season for us, with the team performing really well against the tougher competitors in the division,” said Felix.

“The team have worked really well together this year and the work ethic, team spirit and overall energy has been really amazing to be a part of,” he said.

Felix said they would not be underestimating their opponents on Friday night.

“We know they have had a tough season this year, but they are playing at a different level to us, so we cannot go in with the mentality that this will be an easy game. We know that they will be looking to defend their A division status so they will be coming at us hard,” he said.

Felix said the team were, however, up for the challenge.

“We have had good games against teams like Boland and SWD, both of whom have similar playing styles to Border and there is a definite hunger in the team to leavebehind a legacy for the next group of players coming through,” he said.

EP Kings U21: 

1 Nicolas Roebeck 2 Warrick Venter 3 Mzuvukile Sofisa 4 Kevin Kaba 5 Stephan Zaayman 6 CJ Velleman 7 Waynand Grassmann 8 Aidon Davis 9 Francwa Ueckermann 10 Malcolm Jaer 11 Ayabulela Dlepu 12 Riaan Esterhuizen 13 Siphumelele Msutwana 14 Segeal Petersen 15 Selvyn Davids

Reserves:

16 Tyrone Rankin 17 Matthew Moore 18 Brendan Hector 19 Frans Gerber 20 Jasson Baggott 21 Warren Swarts 22 Jaco Bernardo

U21s set for perfect ending

There will be no neighbourly love this coming Friday when the Eastern Province Kings U21s face the Border U21s at the BCM Stadium in East London.

The Kings who won the B Division for the third year running after beating SWD on Friday will have an opportunity to play the bottom of the A Division log finishers in a promotion / relegation match to earn A Division status for the 2015 season.

After Border beat the Kings in the 2011 B Division final they proceeded to the promotion match where they beat the Falcons, 23 - 22, to earn their promotion to the A Division.

The Kings and Border have been battling it out since 2012 in the promotion matches, with the Kings being unsuccessful over the last two years, with Border beating them 21 - 15 in 2012, and 23 - 21 in 2013.

The Kings have not lost a single match during the regular season since 2012, with only the Bulldogs in their way of that ellusive A Division spot.

This year has been no exception as the Kings won 7 from 7, scorning 261 points and conceding 90 with a 171 points difference. They have scored 35 tries and conceded only 12 with 6 bonus points and a total of 34 log points.

Border, on the other hand, lost all their games, only scoring 59 and conceding 1131 with a massive -1072 points difference. They have only scored 4 tries and conceded 175, with no log points to show for the season.

Should the U21 team beat Border on Friday and gain promotion it will be a historic year for EP Rugby, as all three teams will then be in their respective top divisions in 2015. 

Another successful year for the U21s

The Eastern Province Kings u21s ended their ABSA Under 21 Competition on a high when they beat SWD in Welkom at the North West Stadium on Friday afternoon.

The Kings have been unbeaten during their regular season since 2011, and this year has been no exception as they won seven from seven.

Leighton Eksteen got his team’s only points early on in the match, as SWD took a 3 – 0 lead.

Kings’ Selvyn Davids levelled the scores a few minutes later when he kicked a penalty to bring the score to 3 all after seven minutes.

Eksteen failed with two attempts to add points on the board for his team, first through a dropgoal and the second through a penalty kick.

The Kings scored 17 points before the half time break, the first try came through scrumhalf Franswa Ueckermann and the second through outside center, Siphu Msutwana. Fullback, Selvyn Davids converted both tries and also added a penalty to give the Kings a 20 – 3 lead at half time.

The Kings continued their onslaught in the second half, as they scored a further four tries.

Davies converted his own try at the start of the second half, to stretch the Kings lead to 27 – 3.

Two quick tries followed, the first by Sergeal Petersen which was converted by Davies and the second by CJ Vellerman, Davies was unsuccessful with the second conversion as the game was pretty much over at 39 – 3 with just under twenty minutes to go.

Kings flank, Aidon Davis scored his team’s final try, Davids converted to take the Kings score to 46 – 3, which was also the final score when the final whistle blew.

The ABSA Under 21 trophy has find a home in the Kings’ cabinet, with this being their third consecutive trophy win.

Selvyn Davids is also the third highest points scorer behind Western Province’ Robert du Preez on 137 and Blue Bulls’ Kobus Marais on 138. Davids has scored a total of 104 points, which includes 10 tries, 15 conversions and 8 penalties.

The Kings will play a match against the Border Bulldogs for promotion to the A Division of next year’s ABSA Under 21 Competition.

Scorers:

Eastern Province u21 (46) – Tries: Ueckermann, Msutwana, Davids, Petersen, Vellerman, Davis. Conversions: Davis (5). Penalties: Davis (2)

SWD u21 (3) – Penalty: Leighton Eksteen

Bulls to strong for under 19s

The Eastern Province Kings under 19s hosted the Blue Bulls under 19s in their final match of the ABSA Under 19 Competition at the Nelson Mandela Bay in Port Elizabeth on Friday afternoon.

Dispite trailing by one point at half time the Bulls scored two tries in the second half to secure a 31 - 21 win. 

The Kings took an early lead after two Garrick Mattheus penalties, before the Bulls replied with the first try of the match through flanker, Abongile Nonkontwana. Simon Bolze added the conversion to give his team a one point lead at the end of the first quarter, 7 - 6.

Kings regained the lead minutes later through a Mattheus penalty, but the lead was short lived as the Bulls replied with a five pointer through Johannes Linde as the Bulls took a 14 - 9 lead after a successful conversion by Botze.

Malcolm Jaer crossed the line for the first of his two tries minutes later, Mattheus was on target as he gave the Kings a two point lead, 16 - 14.

Bolze added another penalty just before halftime to give his team a one point lead as the two teams went into the break, 17 - 16.

Linde stretched the Bulls lead as he scored his second try to 24 - 16 after another successful conversion through Bolze.

Kings' Jaer narrowed the gap with his second try but Mattheus was unsuccessful to add the extra's to bring the score to 24 - 21 with 15 minutes to go.

Bulls outside center, Linde scored his his team's third try to secure a 31 - 21 win for the Bulls after a successful conversion from Kurt Webster.

The Kings ended sixth on the log after a slow start, with four wins out of twelve games. They scored 227 points and conceded 253 points, with 25 tries for and 32 against.

Scorers: 

EP Kings u19 (23) - Tries: Jaer (2). Conversion: Mattheus (1). Penalties: Mattheus (3) 

 

Blue Bulls u19 (31) - Tries: Nonkontwana, Linde (3). Conversion: Bolze (4). Penalty: Bolze

First win for Kings

The Eastern Province Kings ended their ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division season with a win over the Steval Pumas at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Friday evening.

The home side turned a 19 – 17 half time lead into a 26 – 25 point win, after the Pumas took a 25 – 19 lead with 15 minutes to go.

Scott van Breda missed an early long range penalty kick after four minutes of play, but the Kings did get the first points on the board after Pumas’ Lubabalo Mtyanda was yellow carded for multipal side entry into the ruck. Tobie Botes crossed the line for the Kings’ first try, Gary van Aswegen was unable to convert the extras as the Kings took a 5 – 0 lead.

Justin van Staden kicked a penalty minutes later as he narrowed the gap to just 2 points, 3 – 5.

Continued pressure from the Kings allowed for Ronnie Cooke to score his team’s second try, van Aswegen was successful with the conversion as the Kings stretched their lead to 12 – 3.

Shortly after Mtyanda returned from watching his team concede 12 points, Rosko Specman got his marching orders after a dangerous tackle resulted in his team having to play another 10 minutes with 14 men.

Paul Schoeman was at the back of a well executed roling maul from a lineout as the Kings went over for their third try, and with van Aswegen adding the extra two the Kings had a comfortable 19 – 3 lead with 10 minutes to half time.

The Pumas started to play more direct rugby and with much needed territorial advantage they managed to score two quick tries before the half time break. The first coming from, ex Kings player, Frankie Herne with van Staden adding the extras as the Pumas trailed by 9, 10 – 19.

The second try came through a quick tap by Speckman just outside Kings 22, he gained enough meters before off loading to van Staden to scored his team second try, he also converted the five pointer to bring the half time score to 19 – 17 and everything to play for in the second half.

The Pumas took the lead for the first time in the match when center Stefan Watermeyer crossed the line for his teams third try, van Staden missed an easy conversion as the Pumas led 22 – 19 five minutes into the half.

Van Aswegen had an opportunity to level the scores but missed a penalty kick. Van Staden streched their lead to 25 – 19 after he kicked a vital penalty as the game reached the final fifteen minutes.

The Kings threw everything at the Pumas as they tried to break the visitors defense. It was, however, a brilliant grubber kick through, man of the match, Shane Gates inside the Pumas 22 that turned their defense around and the speed of van Breda to outsprint the cover defense to dive on the ball as it rolled over the Pumas try line.

Van Aswegen slotted the conversion kick, five meters from the touch line to give the Kings a one point lead with five minutes to go.

With only seconds left on the clock the Kings were defending desperatly inside the Pumas 22 which forced them to give a little chip kick just to get out of their in goal area, the ball bounced favourable for the Kings and just reached the touch line after a desperate clearance from van Aswegen to end the game and to give the Kings their first win of the season, 26 – 25.

Scorers:

EP Kings (26) – Tries: Botes, Cooke, Schoeman, van Breda. Conversions: van Aswegen (3)

Pumas (25) – Tries: Herne, van Staden, Watermeyer. Conversion: van Staden (2). Penalties: van Staden (2)

EP Kings (26) v Pumas (25)

The Eastern Province Kings recorded their first win of this year's ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division, when they beat the Steval Pumas at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Friday evening.

The Kings scored four tries to three as they secured the nail biter by just one point.

Match report to follow...

Scorers:

EP Kings (26) – Tries: Botes, Cooke, Schoeman, van Breda. Conversions: van Aswegen (3)

Pumas (25) – Tries: Herne, van Staden, Watermeyer. Conversion: van Staden (2). Penalties: van Staden (2)

EP Kings to face Pumas

A disappointing season will finally come to an end for the Eastern Province Kings when they face the Pumas at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Friday evening.

The Kings, still winless after 9 games, will have one final shot at getting a win under their belts as doors close for business on Friday, before the season heads into the play-off rounds.

Kings coach, Carlos Spencer was forced to make changes to his front row as both Charles Marais and CJ van der Linde are out with injuries and will be replaced by Simon Kerrod and BG Uys respectively.

Darron Nell returns as captain in possibly his last game in an EP jersey, as he replaces Steven Cummins at lock.

The only other change to the starting lineup sees Scott van Breda back at fullback with Siviwe Soyizwapi moving back to wing where he'll be replacing Ntabeni Dukisa.

Edgar Marutlulle along with Lizo Goboka and Jaco Grobler return to the bench.

The game in Port Elizabeth will be a sort of, “everything to play for but nothing to lose”, for the bottom of the log Kings as they will not be in danger of playing a promotion / relegation match at the end of the season, after they were guaranteed Currie Cup Premier Division status for two seasons.

Kick-off is at 7:10pm.

EP Kings:

1 Simon Kerrod 2 Martin Ferreira 3 BG Uys 4 Darron Nell (c) 5 Cameron Lindsay 6 Paul Schoeman 7 Devin Oosthuizen 8 Tim Agaba 9 Tobie Botes 10 Gary van Aswegen 11 Siviwe Soyizwapi 12 Shane Gates 13 Tim Whitehead 14 Ronnie Cooke 15 Scott van Breda

Reserves:

16 Edgar Marutlulle 17 Charl du Plessis 18 Lizo Gqoboka 19 Steven Cummins 20 Thembelani Bholi 21 Jaco Grobler 22 Ntabeni Dukisa

Cooke to lead Kings

Eastern Province Kings head coach, Carlos Spencer, has named a fairly unchanged team to take on the GKW Griquas in Kimberly on Saturday at 14.30.

Spencer announced today that Ronnie Cooke will be leading the team in the absence of Darron Nell (bench) and Steven Sykes (unavailable) on Saturday.

“Darron Nell is currently battling with a calf strain and will undergo fitness tests on Thursday, if he passes he will move to the bench,” he said.

The changes to the starting line up include Cameron Lindsay moving up from the bench to cover for Nell at lock opposite Steven Cummins, while Tim Agaba moves up from the bench to eighth man.

Paul Schoeman moves from eighth man to flank, to cover for Stefan Willemse, who is out with a shoulder injury.

“I think Tim is an outright eight, I was impressed with the energy that he brought when he came on last week Saturday,” he said.

The only change on the bench, besides Nell, is the inclusion of George Whitehead.

Spencer said the team line outs continued to be frustrating, but said he did not want to go in depth on the matter.

“It was a big issue for us, we did put ourselves in positions where we got ourselves back into the game and if we had won even half of those line outs I believe we could have gone on to win the match.

Spencer said the team was looking forward to the clash against the Griquas.

“This is an important game for us and we’re excited. We feel if we just stick to the plan, and look after ourselves, I’m sure we will do fine,” he said.

Spencer said the biggest challenge for the team was the first fifteen to twenty minutes of the game, where the opposition managed to get a head start.

“Our focus is on those first ten to fifteen minutes, it is important that we get ourselves into the game and just stick to the plan,” he said.

EP Kings:

1 Charles Marais 2 Martin Ferreira 3 CJ van der Linde 4 Cameron Lindsay 5 Steven Cummins 6 Paul Schoeman 7 Devin Oosthuizen 8 Tim Agaba 9 Tobie Botes 10 Gary van Aswegen 11 Ntabeni Dukisa 12 Shane Gates 13 Tim Whitehead 14 Ronnie Cooke (c) 15 Siviwe Soyizwapi

Reserves:

16 Albe de Swardt 17 Charl du Plessis 18 Darron Nell 19 Thembelani Bholi 20 Kevin Luiters 21 George Whitehead 22 Scott van Breda