One of the new additions to the EP Kings Vodacom Cup team to meet the Tusker Simba XV in Cape Town on Saturday is scrumhalf, Kelvano King.
A product of Alexandria Primary and High Schools and the Gardens Rugby Club, the 25 year old Kelvano played in the EP u19, u21 and EP Country Districts teams. King secured a contract with the EP Kings in 2010 – only to have a wrist injury dash his hopes of playing for EP, until now.
King certainly is proof of the strength of Club Rugby in the region and gives hope to the many putting their hands up for professional rugby.
Stormers loan players Siviwe Shakes Soyizwapi and Scott van Breda will also start against the Tusker Simba XV as they did not travel overseas with the Stormers team.
Vodacom Cup head coach, Mzwandile Stick, said both Soyizwapi and Van Breda, who had been on loan to the Stormers, had returned to the Kings this week, as they had not been selected as part of the Stormers touring squad.
“This is a great opportunity for us, as both players need to remain match fit in the event they get called up, so we are making use of them,” he said.
Stick said the team, which will once again be led by Stephan Zaayman, included a mix of seasoned players compared to the team that took on the Griquas two weeks ago, and was confident they would give a good showing in their first Vodacom Cup match.
“We needed some players with a bit of experience; as we saw in the Griquas game the guys did not have enough experience and when things didn’t go well, they battled to pull together as a group,” he said.
Stick said he was also confident that, with Tiger Mangweni in the back line as vice captain, there would be more stability and cohesion in the team.
“We have also done a lot over the past two weeks focusing on the set pieces, focusing on line outs and scrums, where we were penalised quite a lot in the last game,” he said.
Stick said it was going to be an interesting game against the Tusker Simba XV.
“We don’t really know what to expect. We managed to get some footage of them from last year July, of them playing against Zimbabwe but they now have a South African coach, who may have put new structure on their game plan,” he said.
“We do know they are going to come hard as they will be looking to make an impact,” he said.
Zaayman said it was exciting to be leading the team out in their first Vodacom Cup match.
“We know it is going to be a tough game, but we are better prepared than we were against the Griquas and we have the added experience of players like Shakes, Scott and Tiger which really helps,” he said.
“We are a young side but we’re positive we can make a real impact in this competition and the guys are prepared to put their bodies on the line for each other,” he said.
- The team is: 1. Brendon Olivier, 2. Albe de Swardt, 3. Vukile Sofisa, 4. Kuhle Sonkosi, 5. Brendan Hector, 6. Thembelani Bholi, 7. Claude Tshibidi, 8. Stephan Zaayman, 9. Kelvano King, 10. Ntabeni Dukisa, 11. Lance Louw, 12. Tiger Mangweni, 13. Scott Van Breda, 14. Eben Barnard, 15. Siviwe Soyizwapi
- Replacements: 16. Tabbie du Plessis, 17. Pieter Stemmet, 18. Tyler Paul, 19. Siphesihle Phunguzwa, 20. Dwayne Kelly, 21. Brian Skosana, 22. Selwyn Davids
Alan Straton
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