KINGS: WEEKEND BATTLE RESULTS

This past weekend the EP Kings were involved in 3 important matches as the senior side took on Border (franchise partners) in their final league match and the 2 junior sides (u19 & u21) were also involved in matches to determine their log position.

THE SENIOR SIDE:
The senior team had to not just overcome their rivals (Border) but also the bad weather conditions as the strong winds played a factor during the match.  The Kings however coming from the windy city were able to come out as the victors as they beat the Bulldogs 38 points to 20 in East London.

After the other results of the weekend the final log is as follow:
Pos Team P Pts
1 Pumas.....................14.............66
2 EP Kings..................14............51
3 Leopards..................14............44
4 SWD Eagles.............14............41
5 Boland Kavaliers......14............32
6 Griffons ...................14............27
7 Border Bulldogs.......14............25
8 Falcons.....................14............18

This means that the four teams qualifying for the semi finals are Pumas, Kings, Leopards & Eagles with position 1 (pumas) taking on position 4 (Eagles) in Nelspruit and poition 2 (kings) taking on position 3 (Leopards) in Port Elizabeth.  With rumours of the Curriecup expanding it seems as if the Kings and the Pumas will be the two teams promoted to the expanded (8team) competition next year.

Preliminary Semi final fixtures (Div1) - Friday, 04 October 2013
14:00 - Pumas vs SWD Eagles , Nelspruit
16:30 - EP Kings vs Leopards , Port Elizabeth 

THE u21 TEAM:
The u21 team managed to beat the 3rd placed Limpopo Blue Bulls away from home with a score of 33 -37.

Current Log:
Pos Team P Pts
1 EP Kings....................7......35
2 Boland........................7.....30
3 Limpopo Blue Bulls...7......28
4 Griquas.......................7......17
5 Griffons.......................7.....15
6 Valke...........................7.....13
7 Pumas..........................7.....11
8 SWD...........................7.....3 

THE u19 TEAM:
The u19 team managed to beat the struggling Limpopo Blue Bulls away from home with a score of 17-26.

Current Log:
Pos Team P Pts
1 Valke..........................7......34
2 Boland........................7.....25
3 EP Kings....................7......23
4 SWD...........................7......20
5 Griquas........................7.....17
6 Griffons........................7.....17
7 Limpopo Blue Bulls....7.....14
8 Pumas...........................7.....1




This was a good weekend for the EP Kings as they continue on their quest to return top rugby to the province as they managed to get 3 out of 3 this weekend.

THE ROYAL GENE POOL - IS IT DEEP ENOUGH

Is the Southern Kings region capable of producing enough quality players in the future to sustain the franchise?

Having a look at all the players from the Southern Kings region playing rugby all over the country & abroad one starts to realise the amount of talent coming from the region. I have compiled a list of all the players currently playing for other unions who went to school in the SWD, EP & Border regions. Note that the list was compiled from limited information gathered from Wikipedia and could be slightly inaccurate but accurate enough to give a reasonably good idea.  Due to the limited information obtainable from Wikipedia not all players from the smaller unions have biographies and therefor I could not determine where they went to school.

Let us start looking at the players playing Curriecup for one of the major (premier division) sides & players involved in the Vodacom cup for these teams.
BULLS(6):
Bandise Maku, David Bulbring, JJ Engelbrecht, Bjorn Basson, Akona Ndungane, Grant Hattingh,
Dont know if I can claim Serfontein as he left at 16.
CHEETAHS(3):
Phillip van der Waldt, Caylib Oosthuizen, Davon Raubenheimer
GRIQUAS(10):
Dalton Davis, Rocco Jansen, Gouws Prinsloo, Brummer Badenhorst, Simon Westraadt, Ligtoring Landman, Jaco Nepgen, Enrico Acker, Durandt Gerber, Nico Scheepers
LIONS(3): Stephan Greeff, Lionel Mapoe, Lionel Cronje
SHARKS(10):
Rayno Gerber, Lwazi Mvovo, Odwa Ndungane, Keagan Daniel, Tim Whitehead, Marco Wentsel, Tera Mtembu, Sibusiso Sithole, Jaco van Tonder, Allan Dell
STORMERS(3):
Ross Geldenhuys, Siya Kolisi, Scarra Ntubeni

A total of 35 players schooled in the Southern Kings region are currently playing for one of the top 6 (Curriecup) unions, either for their senior sides or the Vodacom cup teams.

Players playing for sides in the 1st division not part of the franchise catchment area:
CAVALIERS(1):
Ntando Kebe
FALCONS(2): Jongi Nokwe, Vincent Gwavu
GRIFFONS(2):
Ashwin Scott, Norman Nelson
LEOPARDS(2): Jaco Grobler, MB Lusaseni
PUMAS(9): De-Jay Terblanche, Rudi Mathee, Lubabalo Mtyanda, Boela Serfontein, RW Kember, Doppies le Roux, Carl Bezuidenhout, Wilhelm Loock, Rosco Speckman

A total of 16 players schooled in the Southern Kings region are currently playing Curriecup for one of the 1st Division teams.  This list could be longer but due to the limited amount of player profiles available on Wikipedia I could not determine where many of the players were schooled.

Players playing abroad:
Zane Kirchner, Dewaldt Potgieter, Jacques Potgieter, Jano Vermaak, Rory Kockott, Johan Muller, Wesley Dunlop, Ryan Konkovski... to just name a few. For this article not really interested in listing all the players from the Southern Kings region playing abroad.

Players playing for the 7's National team. (players used in 2012/2013 season)
Cecil Africa, Steven Hunt

Coaches from the Eastern Cape region either coaching or involved in rugby in some other way.
Nick Mallet, Alistair Coetzee, Rassie Erasmus, Andy Solomons, Pote Human, Ricardo Loubscher
(Some serious combined brain power & coaching experience in this lot)


This blog was not written to take a shot at the Southern Kings for not developing these players (not that they could do so in the past without an academy or with top class rugby as an incentive) or at the other unions for poaching the players (seeing that it is a professional era).  This blog was merely written to establish whether or not the Southern Kings region are capable of producing players in the future to sustain the franchise.

If you consider the amount of players already playing in the region who were schooled there and the amount of players playing for other unions the Southern Kings region surely have the potential to produce enough quality players to sustain a franchise as long as they are capable of retaining the players, especially with the establishment of a decent academy and junior structure.

As a previous blog of mine (http://brandewijnvancoke.blogspot.com/2013/09/academy-scouting.html) have pointed out the Kings Academy have had a reasonably successful year regarding recruiting youngsters for the academy and if they continue with the good work at junior levels they should be ready come 2016.

ACADEMY SCOUTING

After watching the Craven week this year a few players stood out as players I would like to be retained by the academy.  I only had the Craven Week to monitor the players and I am sure the Academy scouts have been closely monitoring the players for a while now and will probably have a better idea as far as the quality of the players are concerned. And as consistency is a major factor to consider I am sure they will differ in some selections as they have better knowledge regarding the players. Here is a list of the XV players I would like to sign that represented the Kings franchise (SWD, Border & EP) region. I have set it out as a starting XV as I heard somewhere that the Kings Academy look to sign 1 player in each position every year.
(some positions have more than one player as more than one player impressed - I put them in order of preference)

15)Malcolm Jaer (EP)
14)Duhan van der Merwe (SWD)
13)Somilha Jho (BOR)
12)Warrick Gallant (SWD) / Peet Schoeman(EPCD)
11) Lilitha Jonas (BOR)
10) Lungela Gosa (BOR) / Dewaldt Human (SWD) / Jason Vers (EPCD)
9) Remu Malan (SWD) / Jason Baggot (EPCD)
8) Martin Groenewald (EP) / Dian Koen (SWD)
7) Jedwyn Hardy (BOR) / Justin Hollis (BOR)
6) CJ Velleman (EP) / Stuart Stopforth (EPCD|)
5) Tyler Paul (EP)
4) Sintu Manjezi (EPCD) / Elandre vd Merwe (EP)
3) Thabani Mtsi (BOR) / Ronnie Beyl (EPCD)
2) no hooker as none of them really impressed (difficult to judge a hooker at school level)
1) NJ Oosthuizen (EPCD) / Stefan Grundlingh (SWD)

Of this list I think Martin Groenewald has signed with the Bulls as they put up his medical bill when he had a horrific break of his leg.


Of these the players that I have heard rumours about joining the academy are
Malcolm Jaer, Juson Vers, Justin Hollis, CJ Velleman, Tyler Paul, Sintu Manjezi, Jason Reynecke


Other players I heard rumours about joining are
David Murray (17), Them Yase, and found confirmation that Selvyn Davids (outside centre) who impressed during the 2012 Cravenweek (was not eligible for 2013) will also be joining.

If all of the rumours are to be believed a Kings Academy team could look something like this:
(players corresponding with my selection are in bold)
15) Malcolm Jaer
14)
13) Selvyn Davids (rated him highly in the previous craven week so he is also in bold)
12)
11)
10) Jason Vers
9)
8)
7) Justin Hollis
6) CJ Velleman
5) Tyler Paul
4) Sintu Manjezi
3) David Murray (from cambridge high school in border region)
2) Jason Reynecke
1) Them Yase

Players I would really like to see join this group are Duhan van der Merwe, Warrick Gallant & Dian Koen as these 3 players (all from SWD) were really impressive.

Still some gaps to fill but at this stage the team is looking promising and so far I am pretty pleased with the scouting done by the Kings this year, lets hope the gaps that will be filled will correspond with my selection. If this is the case the Kings are truly on the rise. 

SARU - 6 FRANCHISES WILL REQUIRE MORE PLAYERS

SANZAR announced earlier this week that no matter what format super rugby will be in 2016 it will include 6 South African franchises.  As a Kings supporter this has been music to my ears but with more players leaving to play rugby overseas and with the additional franchise (Southern Kings) to join in the Super rugby competition will we have enough players to field 6 competitive teams??

Now with a 6th franchise being a reality SARU should start to plan towards 2016. It was hard enough in the past to keep players in SA but with the new way of thinking applied by Heyneke Meyer that 'if you are the best you will play no matter where you are' -  all the best players are leaving to ply their trade overseas for financially larger contracts. Now they will be rewarded with money for leaving our shores and also still be able to play for the Boks - talk about having your bread buttered on both sides.

The ripple effect of this way of thinking can already be seen as there has recently been a mass exodus of quality and experienced players to Europe and Japan. During this exodus many of the franchises have lost players seriously depleting the quality and depth of our super franchises and the Bulls have probably been hit the hardest. Now we will have to pick one more team (6 and not 5) from a seriously depleting pool of players with a lot less players of quality to choose from in 2016.  It has not only been super rugby players who have been contracted to players overseas but also players from curriecup premier & 1st division level. So not just the top players leaving but probably also their replacements. 

SARU should somehow adapt their way of thinking or the super teams depth will be depleted and the competition will die as the supporters and viewership fade due to a depleted and second rate competition.


The first option that I propose as a possible solution will be to not pick players for the Bok team if they are playing club rugby overseas.  This will hopefully discourage young players from leaving our shores (at least the ones who seriously feel they have the ability to make it).  I also note that many of the players who left signed contracts for more than one year. So we will need to phase in this way of selection. Any player who leaves or signs an overseas contract from now on will not be picked for the Boks. Players already overseas who have signed contracts can still be selected and the amount allowed to be selected will decrease per year till 2016 - hopefuly confincing/forcing some players to return to SA and strengthen our super rugby squads. Allow Heyneke to select 10 overseas based players till the end of this year (2013), 7 in 2014, 4 in 2015 (no one playing overseas will be considered for selection in the world cup, and only 2 players per year from 2016 onwards.  This will hopefully bring the players back and prevent others from leaving.


My 2nd possible solution will be to privatise the teams.
We should get Local Business men to own/buy the franchises and run them like businesses, this will be the only way that we will be able to compete financially with clubs in Europe and Japan. Clubs in Europe are owned privately and I even read somewhere that the 'Ruperts' (who are South African) are major share holders in Saracens in England (not to sure of this fact as it is hear say).  Rugby claims to be professional - our management style needs to catch up. The players might be professional but the teams are still run like amateur or Semi professional clubs.
This raises the question... Why should South African business men go overseas to become shareholders of rugby teams?  Maybe even have the shares of the franchises available on stock markets for Joe-Public to be able to invest money into their franchises (I am sure many supporters would love to own a part of their favorite franchise , even if it is only 0.1%).


So, In my opinion SARU needs to either abandon their way of thinking as far as player selection for the Boks are concerned (dont pick overseas players to give young players an insentive to stay) or they should Privatise the franchises and become more professional like the teams are in Europe and Soccer all around the world.

THE KINGS PICTURE - COLOUR BY NUMBERS

Now that he Kings have been 'relegated' from Super Rugby and Transformation being the key word thrown around over the past week with the new quotas for Vodacom cup we need to ask our selves whether the Kings have fulfilled ,or at the very least showed intent to fulfill, their promise of transformation. Many out there are quick to throw stones at the Kings for this very reason, but do they have a point???

At first glance a person might feel that the accusations and criticism regarding transformation is warranted and that the Kings have not done enough in this regard. However, the only way to determine whether or not they have succeeded or showed some intent is to have a look at all the structures of the union.

We must have a look at all the levels (the Super team, the curriecup/vodacom cup teams, the academy and age-group  teams etc.) and compare it to the other unions. After all of this has been analysed can we form an informed (hopefully objective) opinion surrounding this matter and what the Kings have actually achieved. In this blog I will concentrate on the Super rugby stats only and just briefly skim the other two areas as people tend to only be interested in judging the Kings on their Superrugby-stats.

SECTIONS:
• At super rugby level
• At vodacom cup and curriecup level
• At Junior level – age groups and academy

SUPER RUGBY LEVEL:
After painstakingly working through the South African team sheets of the super rugby competition I have obtained the following data. (this could be under correction but is accurate according to my knowledge and may exclude last minute changes after team sheets where originally released - note that I was unable to obtain the team sheets for round 6 & 12)

Kings played the 3rd most of the South African teams in their starting 22, and the 4th most in the starting 15. 
This places them smack in the middle as far as transformation is concerned at the top level and Stormers are leading the pack by far. (If you add the transformation happening at the juior levels I think the Kings promise of transforming has been fulfilled).

PLAYERS USED BY SUPERRUGBY FRANCHISES
BULLS (6)
Zane Kirchner, Lionel Mapoe, Bjorn Basson, Chilliboy Ralepelle, Sampie Mastriet, Akona Ndungane
CHEETAHS (6)
Raymons Rhule, Trevor Nyakane, Elgar Watts, Ryno Benjamin, Burton Francis, Howard Mnisi
SHARKS (8)

JP Pietersen, Lwazi Mvovo, Tendai Mtawarira, Odwa Ndungane, S’Bura Sithole, Fred Zeillinga, Monde Hadebe, Tera Mthembu
STORMERS (8)
Gio Aplon, Bryan Habanna, Siya Kolisi, Juan de Jongh, Elton Jantjies, Nizaam Carr, Cheslin Kolbe, Scarra Ntubeni
KINGS (10)
Sergeal Petersen, Marcello Sampson, Bandise Maku, Edgar Maratlule, Daniel Adongo, Wayllon Murray, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Mpho Mbiyozo, Thabo Mamojele, Siyanda Grey

Even though the Kings have not topped the stats (came in 3rd far behind the Stormers and only 1 behind the Cheetahs) as far as selections go. They have however topped the stats as far as amount of different players used. In total 38 players of colour had the opportunity to play top class rugby in 2013 of which the Southern Kings have used 10 (25%), the Stormers & Sharks 8 and then 6 each for Bulls and Cheetahs. Note that only 6 of the 10 used by the Kings originate from the Eastern Cape area, but for the purpose of this blog I chose to look at the player used by the franchises in 2013 regardless of where they come from.

If you want to use where they come from as the criteria you can remove players like Zane Kirchner, Lionel Mapoe, Bjorn Basson, Akona Ndungane, Lwazi Mvovo, Odwa Ndungane, Howard Mnisi, Siya Kolisi & Scarra Ntubeni from the list of players used by other unions and add them to the Southern Kings list of 6 locally bred players.  Keep in mind that from this list only Howard Mnisi left the region after the academy has been established.

VODACOM CUP LEVEL
After skimming through the team sheets of the Vodacom cup teams and also that of the Currie cup teams it is clear to see that EP Kings have accomplished their Transformation objectives at this level with the teams on many occasions being a 50/50 split if not dominated by the selection of players of colour. If you add Border and SWD to the equation (who are both franchise partners and also capable of producing many players of colour in their starting lineups), the Southern Kings franchise is far ahead of most other franchises in pure player depth regarding players of colour at this level. (This will probably be raided by the bigger unions in the near future due to the new quota laws for the Vodacom cup)

YOUTH RUGBY & ACADEMY LEVEL
Our youth teams (Ep, SWD & Border @ u19 & u21 level) are also stacked with players of colour and is a testament to the effort put in by EP Kings and its franchise partners to develop the talent in the region.

In 2012 the Kings established an Academy to better the opportunities & training for the young players in the region (not only in rugby but also academically).  In 2012 players of colour made up 55% of the academy squad, 65% in 2013 and they aim to up this to 75% in 2014 and then keep it at ratio in the future.  This stipulates the intent of the region to develop its player and to transform the face of rugby in the region that better represent the demographics of the region. The academy has already produced some players who have represented the Southern Kings this year and they are Shakes Soyizwapi, Sergeal Petersen, Rynier Bernardo, Shane Gates and Scott van Breda (note 2(40%) of these players are players of colour).

Border in itself is a major breeding ground and many players of colour who have gone on to represent some of the 'bigger' franchises was schooled in this area. Some of them even started their provincial rugby career in the Border area and with the recently approved SARU academy to be established in the Border region (one also in SWD) hopefully more players will be developed and remain in the region to further their careers.  This in itself strengthens the intent shown not only by the region but also that of SARU to develop and transform rugby in the region and the country.



Having a look at the stats of the Super rugby franchise I feel the Kings did reasonably well in their first season as far as transformation is concerned (nothing exceptional - middle of the pack regarding numbers).
More can be done but saying that they have not fulfilled their promise of transformation is a bit harsh - especially if you keep in mind the promise was to transform and not to already be transformed. Look at the number of young talented players of colour coming through their ranks with the help of the academy and its targets (% players of colour to be contracted) as well as the numbers already in the Vodacom cup and junior competitions. It is a clear indication as to their goals regarding transformation and in my opinion this have shown me that they are fulfilling their promise of transformation and given time the benefits will be clear. It could take a few years to see the results, but I have faith that they will succeed in their goals and transform the face of rugby in the region if the continue in the way they already have.


The names and stats in this article is based on my own research and is accurate as far as my knowledge is concerned. If you know of any names or info I have missed or if any of my stats are incorrect - please let me know and I will in the near future post an updated and corrected blog.

VODACOM CUP QUOTAS RAISES QUESTIONS?

I have read in the media today that there will be quotas for the Vodacomcup and this have raised many questions in my mind regarding whether on how it will work and what might happen.

How will SARU enforce this quota and what will the penalties be for not complying?
Will the penalty be financial or log points or a combination of both all pending on the severity of the short coming?

Will the 'bigger' unions who do not have the adequate amount of players of colour in the junior ranks develop their own players or will this just create a bigger market for poaching players of colour from unions who have already complied to this quota and already dedicated their time to the development of the players.  Will this mean that teams like Border & Eastern Province who have already increased their numbers in the age group teams and the Vodacomcup team will now just be raided more by the 'bigger' teams???

What happens if players of colour are injured (will there be allowances)?
Many teams have limited amount of players of colour to pick from and will already struggle to comply with the new quotas set in place. Will a team who has lost 2 or 3 players of colour to injury be penalised for not fielding enough players or will this somehow be monitored and kept in mind when it comes to penalising such a team (either by decreasing the penalty or by completely removing the penalty)? And if this is the case will there then be some sort of incentive for teams who do manage to play the required amount of quotas and will there be a 'prize' for the team who manages to get the most players of colour onto the field and playing?

After all of these questions are answered and the whole system has gone through the trial and error stage I think that this idea of SARU might work. There will be some growing pains as the franchises try to comply but  in the mean time many players of colour will get the required exposure and experience and we might just see one or two unlikely heroes appearing in the future. This could lead to more players of colour in the Superrugby teams and hopefully one day the Boks aswell.

Only time will tell - let us see what happens.

HOLD THE KINGS HORSES AND ALL THE KINGS MEN...

...can they put a squad together again?....

After the loss to the Lions this past weekend it seemed as if the wheels on the Kings bus was coming of completely with numerous players and coaches announcing their departure.  The players and coaches who have been reported to be leaving the kings are as follow...

Players leaving:
Brandise Maku, Kevin Buys, David Bulbring, Wimpie van der Walt, Jacques Engelbrecht, Daniel Adongo, Demetri Catrakillis, Waylon Murray and SP Marais.
Loan players who have returned to their unions since the beginning of super rugby
Shaun Venter back to pumas but will join cheetahs at the end of the year, Edgar Maratlule back to the leopards, Grant Kemp back to SWD, Hadley Parkes back to Auckland.
International players who have also left:
Thomas Leonardi & Virgile Lecombe
Coaching staff who have left
Andy Solomon's director of rugby, Omar Morenheime defense coach, Brad Mooar skills coach

One would think that the Kings would be completely demorilised by the fact that so many players and coaches have left the union. However, taking a closer look at who remains you realise that they might even be in a better position now than they where at the same time last year. Sure they have lost some players, but are they worse off than last year this time?

Current Starting XV (after players have left)
1) Jaco Engels
2) Hannes Franklin
3) Schalk Ferreira
4) Steven Sykes
5) Darron Nell
6) Cornell du Preez
7) Devin Oosthuizen / Mpho Mbiyozo
8) Luke Watson
9) Scott Mathie (uncertainty about Vergallo)
10) George Whitehead
11) Marcelo Sampson / Michael killian
12) Andries Strauss / Shane Gates
13) Ronnie Cooke  / Scott van Breda
14) Sergeal Peterson
15) Shakes Soyizwapi

Starting XV 2012
1) Schalk Ferreira
2) Hannes Franklin
3) Clint Newland
4) Darron Nell
5) David Bulbring
6) Luke Watson
7) Wimpie van der Waldt
8) Jacques Engelbrecht
9) Scott Mathie
10) Wesley Dunlop
11) Marcelo Sampson
12) Tiger Mangweni
13) Wayne Stevens
14) Paul Perez
15) SP Marais

Not much to choose between the two squads but keep in mind that the amount of experience gained by the team since 2012 make it a completely different team. Players like Du Preez, Sampson, Peterson, Soyizwapi, van Breda, Whitehead & Gates all getting their first taste of top flight rugby and gaining massive amounts of experience.  The biggest challenge will now be to keep the players used to the high pace rugby and arranging proper games for them to stay sharp for the promo relegation games in 2014. One or two more signings here and there and some players coming through the academy system they might even be competitive come 2014. Anything can happen, Keep the Faith.