Eastern Province Elephants

Full name	Eastern Province Elephants
Union	Eastern Province Rugby Union
Founded	1888 (1888)
Region	Western half of theEastern Cape,South Africa
Ground	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (Capacity: 48,000)
League	Currie Cup First Division
2025	Semi-finalist 3rd
Teamkit
Official website
www.eprugby.co.za
Current season

TheEastern Province Elephants (Afrikaans:Oostelike Provinsie Olifante), known as theMultisure Eastern Province Elephants for sponsorship reasons, are aSouth Africanrugby union team that participates in the annualCurrie Cup andRugby Challenge competitions. They are governed by the Eastern Province Rugby Union (EPRU or EP Rugby). The team represents the Western half of theEastern Cape province, and they play their home games at theNelson Mandela Bay Stadium inPort Elizabeth.

In February 2018, the EPRU announced that the name of the team would revert to Eastern Province Elephants for the 2018 season.^[1]

The Eastern Province Rugby Football Union was founded in 1888. The team was originally a representative team, drawing players from within the provincial union area's local clubs.

However, with the advent of professionalism in rugby union in 1995, the team contracted players from various areas. The Eastern Province Elephants is a professional team run by the EPRU, who are also responsible for junior representative rugby teams and administrative matters in the region.

Prior to 2010, they were known as the Mighty Elephants, but in order to align themselves with theSuper Rugby side theSouthern Kings, who were also governed by the EPRU, they changed their name to Eastern Province Kings. After the 2010 World Cup, they moved their offices to the new Port Elizabeth Stadium to establish their new headquarters. The team is the primary feeder to theSouthern Kings, which also incorporates theBorder Bulldogs and theSWD Eagles.^[2]

After late payments of player salaries throughout most of the 2015 season, it came to a head in November 2015, when the EPRU failed to meet a final deadline imposed by the South African Rugby Players Association. All players' contracts were declared null and void, leading to an exodus of players.^[3] A few days later, theSouth African Rugby Union announced that they would take control of the affiliatedSouthern Kings Super Rugby franchise,^[4] and released an operational plan in early December which indicated that SARU would operate the franchise independently from the Eastern Province Kings.^[5]

After a petition handed to presidentCheeky Watson, in which players announced their refusal to play for the Eastern Province Kings or Southern Kings until certain issues were sorted out,^[6] was not met, the South African Rugby Players' Association submitted a liquidation application in January 2016 against EP Rugby (Pty) Ltd on behalf of eighteen Eastern Province Kings players who were not included in the Southern Kings Super Rugby squad for 2016 and have not received their salaries since September 2015.^[7] ThePort Elizabeth High Court provisionally liquidated Eastern Province Rugby in March 2016 and imposed a deadline of 10 May 2016 to pay outstanding player salaries, before the liquidation order would being made final.^[8]

The Eastern Province Kings submitted details of a rescue package to the High Court in May 2016,^[9] which saw the liquidation order being postponed until 4 August 2016. In July 2016, it emerged that the rescue package would not come to fruition and SARU withdrew their appeal against the final liquidation order.^[10] On 4 August 2016, the High Court ruled that the Eastern Province Kings should be liquidated.^[11]

Within hours of the liquidation being finalised, SARU released a statement that an Eastern Province Kings team funded by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality would continue to participate in the2016 Currie Cup Premier Division.^[12]

The team was originally based atSt George's Park. This was also where the first South African Rugby and Cricket Tests took place. They shared the ground with theEastern Province cricket team.

In 1959, the EPRU decided to move the team to the then namedBoet Erasmus Stadium and the inauguration took place in 1960 with the test between the Springboks and Scotland on 30 April 1960. The stadium was later named Telkom Park, due to a naming rights deal, and then renamed to the current name, the EPRU Stadium. The team played most home matches at the stadium, with a few hosted at other venues in Port Elizabeth and surrounding towns. During the late 2000s, the team shared the stadium withfootball (soccer) clubBay United.

In 2009, the team played its first match at their current home, theNelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

• Vodacom Shieldchampions:2002 Vodacom Shield
  • Vodacom Shieldrunners-up:2001 Vodacom Shield
• Currie Cup First Divisionchampions:2010,2012
  • Currie Cup First Divisionrunners-up:2000,2007,2011,2013,2022,2024

The table below indicates the Elephants' recent finishes. This includes games played as Eastern Province, Eastern Province Kings and Mighty Elephants.

¹ Between 2000 and 2002, the top 4 in each section qualified for the Top 8 tournament, the bottom 3 in each section for the Bankfin Cup.
² In 2005, the top 4 in each section qualified for the Premier Division, the bottom 3 in each section for the First Division.

¹ Between 2001 and 2002, the top 4 in each section qualified for the Vodacom Top 8 tournament, the bottom 3 in each section for the Vodacom Shield.

Eastern Province Elephants records:^[13]

• Official website

• Eastern Province Elephants
• Rugby union teams in South Africa
• Sport in Gqeberha

• Use dmy dates from June 2015
• Use South African English from June 2015
• All Wikipedia articles written in South African English
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Afrikaans-language text