‘Flying Fijian’ to soar for Kings

MEMORIES of volatile former Southern Kings flyer Paul Perez came flooding back when the Port Elizabeth franchise named its provisional 29-man Pro14 squad this week.

The temperamental Samoan drew crowds to Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium like a magnet before he left the Kings after falling out with officials in 2014.

Now the Kings will have another bustling player from the Pacific Islands in their ranks.

Fijian Meli Rokoua has been named in the Kings squad and although little is known of him, he did receive rave reviews after a stint in Portugal.

Rokoua, dubbed the “Flying Fijian”, was highly rated when he played for the Agronomia Club and he is also an accomplished Sevens player.

With 11 tries in 24 games at Agronomia, Rokoua is said to have shown an incredible pace, a tremendous intensity and an typical Southern Hemisphere high workrate capability.

That sounds promising and Kings fans will be hoping the Fijian can inject new life into their ailing team.

Back in 2010, it did not take long for Perez to announce his arrival in Port Elizabeth.

He scored an electrifying try just three minutes into his debut to set the EP Kings on their way to a runaway 49-6 win over the Border Bulldogs in an Currie Cup First Division clash. The big Samoan was temperamental and few will forget his prolonged fist-fight with a Pumas player in 2012.

Spectators at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium were shocked when Perez threw several punches at Wilhelm Loock 13 minutes before halftime in a dramatic Currie Cup First Division showdown.

Referee Quinton Immelman and the crowd watched several replays of the incident on the stadium’s big screen before Immelman showed the fiery Perez a red card.

As the replays were shown, the spectators chanted “boom, boom, boom” as each punch landed.

Despite his lack of discipline, Perez was box office material at a time when the union were preparing to play Super Rugby.

His time at the Kings ended when it emerged that he had secretly gone to Durban for a trial at the Sharks without informing EP of his plans.

With their opening Pro14 match now under less than three months away, the Kings will be hoping to finalise their full squad as soon as possible.

If fans were hoping for stardust to boost their team they will have been a little disappointed by the initial squad announcement.

Twenty-five of the 29 squad members played for the Kings last year when they were only able to win one of their 21 matches.

Of the four new names, three had already been leaked to media and there was only one surprise in Rokoua. Apart from Rokoua, the other new players compared to the squad that did duty last year are locks JC Astle and Schalk Oelofse, and scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius.

Astle and Oelofse were signed from French Pro D2 side Mont-deMarsan, while Pretorius previously played for the Dragons in Wales and the Cheetahs.

Astle, who played for the Kings in the 2016 Super Rugby season, will be a big gain and provide extra grunt in the pack.

It could be that the Kings are waiting for the implementation of a new draft system to bolster their squad.

More new recruits also may emerge at the end of the SuperSport Rugby Challenge competition.

SA Rugby president Mark Alexander has said the new system that would allow more players to be available to South Africa’s Pro14 teams was close to becoming a reality.

This year, the Kings lacked depth in several key positions in what proved to be a disastrous debut season in the Pro14.

There have been calls for some time now for SA Rugby to introduce bring in a draft system to allow top players to be shared among the franchises.

Long-suffering Kings supporters will be hoping that some big names will be unveiled before the start of the new campaign in September.