Davids shows generous side for Elephants
EP boss vows to pull out all the stops for WP clash
EIGHT Southern Kings Pro14 squad players are expected to be released to play for the EP Elephants in their SuperSport Rugby Challenge tie against Western Province at Wolfson Stadium on Sunday.
EP Rugby Union president Andre Rademan said Kings head coach Deon Davids would help the Elephants prepare for a tough opener against the defending champions.
The team, scheduled to be named today, is expected to be a mixture of Kings, Madibaz and club players.
Though Rademan said eight Kings players would be released, it appears the players have yet to start training with the Elephants.
“No players have been released. Awaiting medicals. Probably looking at Thursday,” a Kings spokesperson said.
It will be a tough start for the Elephants, who will go into the game without the luxury of a warm-up game.
They had been scheduled to play against the SDW Eagles in a friendly match in Plettenberg Bay, but the game was called off.
Rademan said his decision to call off that game was because he decided to prioritise the Kings game against Munster in George.
This weekend the Kings have a bye, which has opened a door for players to be released to the Elephants.
“Ryan Felix will be the coach and he will have eight Kings players in his squad,” said Rademan.
“People must realise that this is a union starting from the bottom and I know people want results. But results do not come overnight because we are involved in building process.
“This can be frustrating and people may not see the results now. In three or four years we are building to a pinnacle to achieve our goals. There is no quick-fix solution.
“It had been decided that Deon Davids will be in control of all coaches in our structures and he will be attending our training sessions and helping out.
“This is the first game back as EP Elephants again and our new kit has arrived. This will be a historical day for EP,” said Rademan.
The action at Wolfson Stadium gets under way at 10.30am with a Gold Cup qualifying game between Progress and Gardens at 10.30am.
Boland Cavaliers will play the Border Bulldogs at 1pm, before EP and WP clash in the main game at 3pm.
Last year WP were unbeaten in the SuperSport Challenge and are favoured to retain their title.
For the Bulldogs they will need to get over their off-field challenges if they are to get their season off to the perfect start against Boland.
A total of 67 matches will be played in the competition, including quarterfinals, semifinals and the final.
The tournament will take 13 weeks to complete and ends on July 15.
This is the second season of the SuperSport Rugby Challenge which, the organisers say, is designed to take rugby to the masses, unearth new talent and bridge the playing gap to Super Rugby.
A big crowd is expected for the Western Province game at Wolfson, to watch the Elephants start their challenge for honours.
“We will try to get the strongest side on the field to play Western Province.”
“Last year we did not have money to sign players and we had to use club players in a professional competition because we wanted to make the financial turnaround,” said Rademan.