After beating the Leopards 32-29 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium this past Friday the EP Kings will travel to Nelspruit to meet the Pumas in the Kings fourth final appearance in a row.
The Eastern Province Kings will be playing for the right to be crowned champions whilst the Pumas, whether they lose or not and as a result of their massive points advantage, will play the Griquas in a promotion relegation series to decide which of the two teams will play in the 2014 Premier Division.
Trying times for the local team who seem to be unable to take the final step to ascend to the ‘big leagues’. Despite winning the trophy 3 times in 2010, 2011 and 2012 (will these three years be known as the ‘Glory Years’ gong forward?) Eastern Province will still be in the First Division for 2014.
As the season draws to it’s close we look back at the EP Kings record, just before their final game against the Pumas, below. It seems strange to look at the bare numbers after all those games and time spent by players on the field. Maybe it is time to pay the contracted players on the basis of performance or will a large financial sponsor be willing to step into the breach and support the team for the next two years, whilst we recover from the double body blow of losing Super Rugby as well as the chance to play in the Premier Division.
EP Kings Away Games: 6 wins and 1 loss
- Won 38 – 20 against the Border Bulldogs: at the BCM Stadium, East London
- Won 40 – 19 against the Regent Boland Cavaliers at the Boland Stadium, Wellington
- Won 44 – 26 against the Leopards at the Profert Olen Park, Potchefstroom
- Won 44 – 18 against the Valke at the Bosman Stadium, Brakpan
- Won 35 – 34 against the SWD Eagles at the Outeniqua Park, George
- Won 37 – 21 against the Down Touch Griffons at the North West Stadium, Welkom
- Lost 33 – 32 to the Steval Pumas at the Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
EP Kings Home games at the NMB Stadium: 5 wins and 3 losses
- Won 32 – 29 against the Leopards
- Won 30 – 23 against the Valke
- Won 15 – 9 against the SWD Eagles
- Won 63 – 7 against the Down Touch Griffons
- Won 9 – 6 against the Border Bulldogs
- Lost 23 – 30 to the Regent Boland Cavaliers
- Lost 18 – 22 to the Leopards
- Lost 13 – 29 to the Steval Pumas
EP Kings Series Points Scorers:
- Scott van Breda: 131
- Ntabeni Dukisa: 39
- Mpho Mbiyozo: 30
- Stefan Willemse: 25
- Michael Killian: 20
- George Whitehead: 20
- Samora Fihlani: 15
- Tiger Mangweni: 15
- Shakes Soyizwapi: 15
- Wayne Stevens: 15
- Steven Sykes: 15
- Aidon Davis: 10
- Cornell du Preez: 10
- Marlou van Niekerk: 7
- Kayle van Zyl: 7
- Dalton Davis: 5
- Hannes Franklin: 5
- Ross Geldenhuys: 5
- Siyanda Grey: 5
- Thabo Mamojele: 5
- Darron Nell: 5
- Devin Oosthuizen: 5
- Hadleigh Parkes: 5
- Brian Skosana: 5
- Nicolás Vergallo: 5
- Tim Agaba: 5
EP Kings Series Try Scorers:
- Mpho Mbiyozo: 6
- Stefan Willemse: 5
- Michael Killian: 4
- Samora Fihlani: 3
- Tiger Mangweni: 3
- Shakes Soyizwapi: 3
- Wayne Stevens: 3
- Steven Sykes: 3
- George Whitehead: 2
- Aidon Davis: 2
- Cornell du Preez: 2
- Scott van Breda: 1
- Ntabeni Dukisa: 1
- Tim Agaba: 1
- Marlou van Niekerk: 1
- Kayle van Zyl: 1
- Dalton Davis: 1
- Hannes Franklin: 1
- Ross Geldenhuys: 1
- Siyanda Grey: 1
- Thabo Mamojele: 1
- Darron Nell: 1
- Devin Oosthuizen: 1
- Hadleigh Parkes: 1
- Brian Skosana: 1
- Nicolás Vergallo: 1
EP Kings Series Conversions:
- Scott van Breda: 24
- George Whitehead: 5
- Ntabeni Dukisa: 5
- Marlou van Niekerk: 1
- Kayle van Zyl: 1
EP Kings Series Penalties:
- Scott van Breda: 26
- Ntabeni Dukisa: 7
EP Kings Series Drop Goals:
- Ntabeni Dukisa: 1
EP Kings Series Red and Yellow Cards: 5 yellows, no red.
- Charl du Plessis
- Devin Oosthuizen
- Kayle van Zyl
- Scott van Breda
- Steven Sykes
The team with the most cards: The Leopards with 12
The player with the most cards: RW Kember from the Steval Pumas with 3
In total 61 cards were given – 59 yellow and 2 red
Since 2000 Eastern Province / EP Kings have contested 5 First Division finals – winning 2 and losing 3:
- 2000: lost to the Blue Bulls 41 – 20 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria
- 2007: lost to SWD Eagles 38 – 3 at Outeniqua Park in George
- 2010: won against the SWD Eagles 16 – 12 at Outeniqua Park in George
- 2011: lost against the Boland 42 – 12 at the Boland Stadium in Wellington
- 2012: won against the Pumas 26 – 25 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth
Alan Straton
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