Port Elizabeth – The EP Kings have expressed their disappointed after former coach Carlos Spencer voiced his dissatisfaction at unpaid wages.
Spencer earlier this week parted ways with the Kings and – through his attorney David Jones – the former All Black has attributed his departure from the Kings to their continued troubles in meeting wage obligations.
The Kings on Thursday insisted that Spencer and his lawyers’ claims were “simply not true”.
“The initial problems we had with Carlos’ salary was due to his insistence of having his funds paid into an offshore account,” EP Rugby President, Cheeky Watson, said via a media statement.
Watson said this resulted in delays that arose out of the administrative compliance and paperwork issues.
“While we have experienced a cash delay for July’s salaries, due to a delay in the sponsorship administrative process, we have been working tirelessly to address this issue and have communicated this to all our staff and players, who have been very patient and supportive,” said Watson.
Watson also expressed his disappointment in the allegations by Spencer that he had been pushed out of the head coach role.
“Carlos was originally appointed as our backline skills coach, and on his request he was promoted to head coach for our debut Currie Cup season, where the Kings suffered nine successive losses in a ten match season,” continued Watson.
Watson said when Mzwandile Stick was appointed head coach for the Vodacom Cup, Spencer had distanced himself from the team and following the appointment of Brent Janse van Rensburg as the new head coach.
Watson said Spencer had stopped attending any coaching meetings and even stopped attending training sessions.
“It is really sad that Carlos has made these statements as we had hoped to part on amicable terms. Despite the disappointing results, we had a lot of respect for Carlos and for his accomplishments,” he said.
Watson said rumours around Spencer’s departure being linked to the Kings not being prepared for their return to Super Rugby were laughable.
“Before Super Rugby in 2013, we were playing in the B Division and had less than 5 months to prepare, as the announcement of our participation was only made in August 2012. Yet the Southern Kings went on to perform and produced the best results to date of any debut team entering the competition. Not to mention the fact that they secured the third highest attendance of the year, across all franchises, due to their courage, character and commitment displayed on the field.
“This time round, we have had two years to prepare, including participation at Currie Cup Premier Division level, where our players have gone head-to-head against players from the other franchises. We are confident that the Southern Kings’ return to the expanded Super Rugby competition in 2016 will deliver even better results than their debut performance in 2013,” said Watson.
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