Top class rugby returns to Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on 4 June when the Southern Kings take on the Contipartners Premier XV, a team consisting of top flight South Africans playing their rugby abroad. This match will be the Eastern Cape side’s final warm-up match before their participation in the 2011 Nations Cup in Romania, to be held from 10 June in Bucharest.
The Contipartners Premier XV consists of numerous overseas-based players with strong roots from within the Kings franchise area.
This includes former EP Kings player Sam Gerber as well as former Springboks Brent Russell, Pedrie Wannenburg, Gcobani Bobo, Marco Wentzel and Heini Adams.
The team will be coached by former World Cup winner Brendan Venter, who just completed a very successful stint as director of rugby at Saracens, England and he will be assisted by Springbok sevens coach, Paul Treu.
Local sevens sensation Cecil Afrika will also play for the Contipartners Premier XV.
Announcing the fixture, Kings CEO Stephan Pretorius, expressed his delight at the quality of the opponents.
“These players bring a lot of credentials with them and will be a very good test for the Kings prior to their first international assignment in Romania a week later. We certainly are expecting some fantastic rugby and we can only urge the local community to come and support the match. This is not something to be missed and a great way to grow the game in our region.” Pretorius said.
Match promoter Willem Strauss promised rugby of the highest calibre.
“This is a unique opportunity for these players to showcase their talents in South Africa again and all are very keen to show their skills. We have assembled the squad with entertaining rugby in mind. Spectators can expect a free-flowing spectacle with running rugby very high on the Premier XV’s agenda. It was also important to us to showcase the talents of players originally from within the Kings region and the contribution the Eastern Cape is making to rugby all over the world.”
Tickets for the match, which will kick-off at 15h00, will be available at Computicket.
The players invited are:
Backs: Cecil Afrika (SA 7’s), Joe Pietersen (Bayonne), Hanno Dirksen (Ospreys), Gcobani Bobo (Newcastle), Sam Gerber, (Bayonne), Stefan Basson (Rovigo), Brent Russell (Clermont Auvergne), Paul Delport (SA 7’s), Heine Adams (Bordeaux).
Forwards: Willie Wepener (Clermont Auvergne), Brett Sharman (Northampton Saints), Petrus du Plessis (Saracens), Marco Wentzel (c, Leeds), Coenie Basson (Bourgoin), Wessel Jooste (Bourgoin), Pieter Myburgh (Leicester Tigers), Kyle Brown (SA 7’s), Pedrie Wannenburg (Ulster), Heinke van der Merwe (Leinster) and Frankie Horne (SA 7’s).
The participation of the players above is subject to final procedures and availability due to possible play-off matches in Europe.
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Mmmmm, with a lot of the big names pulling out of this match I think the shine of it has slightly dulled.