EP Academy U18s off to a winning start

Eastern Province recorded a narrow 34 - 29 win over their neighbours, Border, in their opener of the Coca-Cola Academy Week at the Isak Steyl Stadium in Vanderbijlpark.

Eastern Province CD unfortunately went down to hosts, the Rooi Valke, in a massive 5 - 71 defeat in their opener.

Tomorrow's fixtures sees Eastern Province take on Western Province in their second match at 2:05pm on the A Field, while Eastern Province CD face off against Border CD at 10:05am on the B Field.

Coca-Cola Academy Week day-one results:

Rooi Valke 71 - 5 Eastern Province CD
Limpopo Blue Bulls 21 – 56 Griffons
Blouvalke 19 - 29 Namibia
Free State 25 - 24 SWD
Lions 19 - 36 Western Province
Griquas 45 - 19 Pumas CD
Blue Bulls 59 - 24 KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal CD 48 - 7 Griffons CD
Border 29 - 34 Eastern Province
SA LSEN 12 - 23 Griquas CD
Pumas 21 - 18 Boland
Border CD 0 - 57 Leopards

EP lose to KZN in Grant Khomo opener

Eastern Province kicked off their Under-16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week when they faced KwaZulu-Natal at the Brighton Sports Grounds in Oudtshoorn on Monday.

The boys from Port Elizabeth scored one first half try and a penalty in reply to Natal's two tries as they trailed 8 - 10 at the break.

Natal built on their two point lead in the second half as they scored back-to-back tries, while they shut out Eastern Province on defence to increase their lead to 24 points and their try tally to four. In return EP were only able to add a penalty, which resulted in them suffering a 24-11 defeat.

Scorers:

Eastern Province (8) 11 - Try: Curtly Deysel. Penalties: Vaughen Isaacs (2).

KwaZulu-Natal (10) 24 – Tries: Kamvelihle Fatyela, Cham Zondeki, Morne van Rensburg, JJ Van den Mescht. Conversions: Morne van Rensburg (2)

U16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week day-one results:

SWD Eagles 22 - 27 Pumas

Namibia 27 - 31 Valke

DHL Western Province 25 - 24 Free State

SWD Eagles XV 14 - 32 Border

Blue Bulls 19 - 40 Bidvest Golden Lions

Griquas CD 17 - 50 Limpopo Blue Bulls

KwaZulu-Natal 24 - 11 Eastern Province

Griquas 20 - 17 Zimbabwe

Griffons 6 - 69 Boland

Border CD 0 - 27 Leopards

Bulls u13s too strong for EP in final match

Eastern Province faced tough opposition in their final match at the Under-13 Coca-Cola Craven Week, when they played the Itec Blue Bulls at Hoërskool Rob Ferreira in White River on Friday morning.

The boys from Pretoria outscored the Port Elizabeth based side in the first half by four tries to one.

The Blue Bulls dominated up-front and showing an impressive attacking prowess out wide. The Blue Bulls’ attack was fantastic as they forced EP onto the back-foot and the rewards followed as they crossed the tryline four times in the first half.

Eastern Province did their best to force their way into the match, but their efforts were curtailed by the effective Blue Bulls defence, leaving them to settle for only one converted try in the first half and a 21 point deficit at the break.

Eastern Province tightened up their defence significantly in the second half as they limited the Blue Bulls to only one more try. The Port Elizabeth side managed to score a second try, as the game ended 35 - 14 in favour of the Blue Bulls.

Scorers:

Eastern Province (7) 14 – Tries: Larquin Goliath, Ethan Liberty. Conversions: Daniel Smith (2).

Itec Blue Bulls (28) 35 – Tries: Jooste Nel, Rolen Visagie, Chris Schoombee, Zandre Du Toit (2). Conversions: Jooste Nel (5).

EP U13s secure convincing win

Eastern Province secured a convincing win in their penultimate round of fixtures at the Under-13 Coca-Cola Craven Week, when they beat the Limpopo Blue Bulls at Hoërskool Rob Ferreira in White River on Thursday.

Eastern Province did well to capitalise on their try-scoring chances against the Limpopo Blue Bulls despite both teams showing their attacking prowess in a hard-running first half.

Eastern Province backed up their exciting attack with a solid defensive structure, which, combined with mistakes at crucial times by the Limpopo side, only allowed them to cross the tryline once in the first half.

Eastern Province’s three first half tries allowed them to take a comfortable 19 – 7 lead at the break.

They picked up where they left off in the second half and scored a further two tries, thanks to their impressive support play and hard running, which allowed them to continue finding the gaps in the defence.

The Limpopo Blue Bulls bounced back strongly in the dying minutes to score a consolation try as the game ended 31 – 12 in favour of the Port Elizabeth side.

Scorers:

Eastern Province (19) 31 – Tries: Ethan Liberty, Kuhle Desha, Aliswa Mapuma, Larquin Goliath, Siviwe Zondani. Conversions: Daniel Smith (2), Lathita Nqebe.

Limpopo Blue Bulls (7) 12 – Tries: Renzo Du Plessis, Pieter Vorster. Conversion: Juan Smith

U13 Coca-Cola Craven Week day-three results:

Boland 18 – 15 TW Profile Services Valke
DHL Western Province 17 – 3 SWD
Itec Blue Bulls 29 – 0 Border CD
Bidvest Golden Lions 0 – 33 KwaZulu-Natal
Border 15 – 27 Leopards
Pumas 31 – 14 Free State
Namibia 14 – 13 Zimbabwe
Eastern Province 31 – 12 Limpopo Blue Bulls
GWK Griquas 0 – 18 Griffons

EP U13s to face Blue Bulls in their final match

The Eastern Province u13s will face the Itec Blue Bulls in their final match at the Under-13 Coca-Cola Craven Week on Friday.

The boys from Port Elizabeth have only managed to win one out of their three matches played at Hoërskool Rob Ferreira in White River Mpumalanga. Both of their previous two matches against Bidvest Golden Lions (12 - 13) and Leopards (17 - 18) ended in one point defeats.

Both teams will enter tomorrow's match with confidence as Eastern Province outscored Limpopo Blue Bulls five tries to two, in their 31 - 12 third round match played on Thursday.

The Itec Blue Bulls scored twenty nine unanswered points, which included five tries, in a 29 - 0 victory against Border CD in their third round match.

The game will be played on the A Field, and kick-off is at 11am.

U13 Coca-Cola Craven Week day-four fixtures:

A Field:

09h00 – Limpopo Blue Bulls vs GWK Griquas
10h00 – Pumas vs Border
11h00 – Eastern Province vs Itec Blue Bulls
12h00 – Valke vs SWD
13h00 – DHL Western Province vs Boland

B Field:

09h00 – Zimbabwe vs Free State
10h00 – Border CD vs Namibia
11h00 – Bidvest Golden Lions vs Griffons
12h00 – KwaZulu-Natal vs Leopards

More disappointment for EP at U13 Coca-Cola Craven Week

DHL Western Province, Boland and SWD were the big scorers on Tuesday, in day two of the U13 Coca-Cola Craven Week at Hoërskool Rob Ferreira in White River as they stay in contention for a place in Friday's final match.

Unfortunatly things went pear-shape for the boys from Port Elizabeth as Eastern Province failed to pull off a win, after leading 10 - 3 at half-time in their second match against the Leopards.

The first half was tight as both teams tried hard to gain dominance. Eastern Province, however, built up a nice 10 - 3 lead thanks to a converted try and a penalty, while they limited the Leopards to a single penalty in the half.

The Leopards, however, fought back strongly after the break scoring three tries. The last try was three minutes from the final whistle to give them a one point lead. Eastern Province only managed to score one converted try, which left them with a disappointing 18 - 17 defeat.

Scorers:

Eastern Province (10) 17 – Tries: Sino Antonie, Siviwe Zondani. Conversions: Lathita Nqebe (2). Penalty: Lathita Nqebe.

Leopards (3) 18 – Tries: Theuns Steyn, Armand Cloete (2). Penalty: Theuns Steyn.

U13 Coca-Cola Craven Week day-two results:

Border 0 – 33 DHL Western Province

KwaZulu-Natal 7 – 34 Boland

Eastern Province 17 – 18 Leopards

Bidvest Golden Lions 13 – 37 SWD

Border CD 19 – 14 Pumas

TW Profile Services Valke 21 – 19 Itec Blue Bulls

Free State 5 – 33 Limpopo Blue Bulls

Griffons 37 – 13 Namibia

Griquas 15 – 7 Zimbabwe

Lions beat EP in U13 Craven Week opener

Eastern Province faced Bidvest Golden Lions in their opener of this year's U13 Coca-Cola Craven Week at Hoërskool Rob Ferreira in White River. 

The Golden Lions started their clash against Eastern Province with a bang as Regardt Fourie crossed the tryline in the second minute to take a 5-0 lead. But Eastern Province did well to string together phases on attack and hit back with a try of their own in the 18th minute compliments of Lathita Nqebe. The Lions, however, cancelled this out with their second try before half time to take a 10-5 lead at the break.

The second half was hard-fought as the teams ran hard at each other. Such was the closeness of the half the Lions were only able to add a penalty to their score, while Eastern Province's Nqebe crossed the tryline for the second time, which allowed them to come within a point of the Lions on the scoreboard. The Johannesburg team, however, held on in the dying minutes to secure a 13-12 victory.

Eastern Province's second match will be on Tuesday (30 June) against the Leopards. The Leopards went down to Boland in their opener,15 - 20.

Scorers:

Eastern Province (5) 12 – Tries: Lathita Nqebe (2). Conversion: Daniel Smith.

Golden Lions (10) 13 – Tries: Denis Balt, Regardt Fourie. Penalty: Sebastine Watney.

U13 Coca-Cola Craven Week day-one results:

Pumas 21 - 7 KwaZulu-Natal

Western Province 24 - 19 Valke

Limpopo Blue Bulls 7 - 29 Border

Boland 20 - 15 Leopards

Blue Bulls 40 - 0 Zimbabwe

Eastern Province 12 - 13 Golden Lions

Griquas 7 - 12 Namibia

Free State 0 - 19 SWD

Griffons 16 - 22 Border CD

U13 Coca-Cola Craven Week day-two fixtures, Tuesday 30 June 2015:

A Field:

08h30 - Griffons vs Namibia                            

09h30 - Valke vs Blue Bulls                               

10h30 - Golden Lions vs SWD                          

11h30 - KZN vs Boland                                      

12h30 - Border vs WP

B Field:

08h30 - Griquas vs Zimbabwe

09h30 - Free State vs Limpopo Blue Bulls

10h30 - Border CD vs Pumas

Exciting additions to Currie Cup squad

The Eastern Province Kings have announced two exciting additions to their squad for the 2015 Currie Cup season.

Robust loose forward, Jacques Engelbrecht will make a welcomed return to the Kings squad. Engelbrecht who is currently contracted to the Bulls until 2016 will be on loan to the Kings for the next four months.

Engelbrecht who is no stranger to the Kings set-up joined in 2011 from the Eagles, and made 24 appearances in the EP jersey over two seasons. In 2013 Engelbrecht formed a formidable loose-trio along side Wimpie van der Walt and Cornell du Preez for the Southern Kings in their first Super Rugby season.

After the Southern Kings failed to retain their spot for the 2014 Super Rugby season, Engelbrecht formed part of a max exodus of players and joined the Blue Bulls.    

"Jacques was a familiar face in our ranks, both for the EP Kings and the Southern Kings, and we are looking forward to having him back for our Currie Cup campaign."  

“We believe he will add a great deal to our squad during this important time for rugby in the province,” said EP Rugby CEO Charl Crous.

The Kings also confirmed the signing of Griquas and Cheetahs thighthead prop Maks van Dyk until the end of the 2016 season. Van Dyk also had a short spell with Irish club Leinster where he made one appearance in 2014 during the off-season.

"We welcomed Jacques and Maks into the Kings family earlier today (Wednesday) at our player and management workshop.” 

"We look forward to working with them going forward and getting to know them better," said newly appointed Kings head coach Brent Janse van Rensburg.

The Kings have started with their pre-Currie Cup training, and will have their first outing against the Sharks on the 11th of July, followed by the Bulls on the 17th and Western Province on the 25th, ahead of their ABSA Currie Cup opener against the Golden Lions on the 8th of August.

EP Kings appoint new Currie Cup coach

The Eastern Province Kings have announced that former NMMU Madibaz coach, Brent Janse van Rensburg, has been appointed as head coach for the EP Kings Currie Cup campaign.

“Brent is a top calibre coach, having earned his stripes in the school system and at the NMMU Madibaz, and we are confident that he will play a significant role in our preparations going forward,” said EP Kings CEO Charl Crous.

"He is familiar with operations at the Kings and we are sure he will be able to bring the best out in the team for the Currie Cup campaign."

Janse van Rensburg will be assisted by Carlos Spencer (backline and skills coach), Darron Nell (lineout and forwards coach) and CJ van der Linde, who is still playing but will assist in the scrummaging department.

Janse van Rensburg who took over as head coach at NMMU in 2011 took the Madibaz to two consecutive Varsity Cup semi-finals in 2013 and 2014 before he joined Grey High School as Director of Rugby. 

Earlier this year he joined the Lions as the u19 forwards coach before he was released from his contract due to personal reasons. He returned to Nelson Mandela Bay where he subsequently joined the Kings as Head of Defence during their Vodacom Cup campaign.

Janse van Rensburg will take up his new position with immediate effect, as the Kings are currently preparing for their Currie Cup friendlies against the Sharks, Bulls and Western Province ahead of their opener against the Lions on the 8th of August.

Kings player included in Sevens Academy side

EP Kings fullback Siviwe Soyizwapi has been included in the SARU Sevens Academy squad to travel to an invitational Sevens tournament in Italy and Switzerland later this year. 

The team was selected after a round of gruelling trials in Stellenbosch and, according to the coach, the trials again showed the high quality of players in the South African structures.

"The trials highlighted the skills and abilities of the next tier of players. These guys are all showing massive potential to graduate into the national team and some of them will even push for places in the Olympic Games in Rio next year," Schoeman said.

Included in this squad are regular Springbok Sevens squad members, Ruhan Nel and Carel du Preez. Du Preez and Nel both made their Springbok Sevens debut during the recent 2014/15 HSBC Sevens World Series after being called up for national duty from the Academy ranks.

"We have had an eye on certain players for a while now, and it is pleasing that they were available for selection. I would like to thank the various unions who allowed them to train and now play with us. I think the Academy pathway has worked for our national team as well, as guys like Ruhan and Carel clearly showed this year, as well as others like Kwagga Smith and Werner Kok before them."

The Roma tournament will be played on 12 and 13 June at the Acqua Acetosa Stadium. The South Africans won the tournament in 2013 and 2014.

The team then will travel to Switzerland, where the Geneva Sevens will be contested at the Centre Sportif du Bout du Monde on 19-20 June.

SARU Sevens Academy:

1 Carel du Preez

2 Ruhan Nel

3 Sandile Ngcobo 

4 Lungelo Gosa

5 Sibahle Maxwane

6 Vincent Maruping

7 Dylan Sage

8 TJ Goddard

9 Tyler Fisher

10 Siviwe Soyizwapi

11 Riaan Esterhuizen

12 Daniel Maartens

Non traveling reserves:

Thabo Mabuza, Joel Booysen.