 | |||
| Full name | Southern Kings | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Union | South African Rugby Union | ||
| Founded | 2009 (2009) | ||
| Disbanded | 2020; 5 years ago (2020) | ||
| Location | Port Elizabeth,South Africa | ||
| Region | Eastern Cape | ||
| Ground | Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (Capacity: 48,459) | ||
| Mostcaps | Schalk Ferreira (79) | ||
| Top scorer | Demetri Catrakilis (194) | ||
| Most tries | Yaw Penxe (15) | ||
| League(s) | Super Rugby Pro14 | ||
| |||
| Official website | |||
| kingsrugby | |||
TheSouthern Kings were aSouth African professionalrugby union team that competed inSuper Rugby andPro14. They were based inPort Elizabeth in theEastern Cape province and played their home matches atNelson Mandela Bay Stadium. They were created in 2009, and had their first match against theBritish & Irish Lions during their2009 tour. After competing inSuper Rugby in 2013, 2016 and 2017, they joined Pro14 prior to the2017–18 season, along with theCheetahs.
For the 2013 season, the Kings' catchment area was made up of theEastern Cape and parts of theWestern Cape, drawing players from 3 provincial unions: namely theEastern Province Kings, based inPort Elizabeth (representing the southern half of the Eastern Cape), theBorder Bulldogs, based inEast London (representing the northern half of the Eastern Cape) and theSWD Eagles, based inGeorge (representing the South Western Districts). However, after theSouth African Rugby Union took over the running of the franchise in November 2015, the franchise had no formal ties to any of the provincial unions.
The team was disbanded in September 2020 after going into voluntary liquidation.[1]
In 2005, there was an attempt to bring aSuper Rugby side to theEastern Cape province in the form of theSouthern Spears, who were intended to participate in theSuper 14 from2007 onwards; however, their proposed entry into the competition led toconsiderable controversy within the country's rugby establishment. In April 2006, after concerns over the team's financial stability and sporting competitiveness,[2] the Spears were denied entry into theSuper 14.[3] Following this, the Southern Spears ceased to exist.
In January 2009,SARU announced that a new franchise in theEastern Cape Province would be launched in June of that year to coincide with the arrival of theBritish & Irish Lions in Port Elizabeth for one of their midweek tour matches.[4] The franchise was launched with the goal of a future place in Super Rugby, but no timetable was initially set. The President of the Eastern Province Rugby Union,Cheeky Watson, said "there is a desperate hunger for top-flight rugby in the South Eastern Cape and this is the first step to satisfying it." The franchise was officially announced in April 2009.[5] They played their first match against the British & Irish Lions on 16 June 2009, losing 8–20 in a midweek match in Port Elizabeth.[6] The team's first points were scored byJaco van der Westhuyzen and their first try was scored byMpho Mbiyozo.[7]
They also played in the2011 IRB Nations Cup, where they participated as the South African Kings. They won all three their games, beatingGeorgia,[8]Romania[9] andPortugal[10] on their way to winning the competition.[11]
On 19 May 2009,Super Rugby governing bodySANZAR announced that the existing Super 14 competition would be expanded to 15 teams from the2011 season onwards.[12] The expansion would participate in the Australian Conference, but was open to tenders from all territories, with teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa expressing an interest.[13] This was eventually reduced to just two bidders, theMelbourne Rebels and the Southern Kings. On 11 November 2009, SANZAR arbitrators awarded the 15th licence to theMelbourne Rebels, with geographical location and commercial value swaying the decision in the Australian franchise's favour.[14]
TheSouth African Rugby Union were undeterred in their effort to bring Super Rugby to the Eastern Cape and on 27 January 2012, they confirmed that the Kings would participate in the2013 Super Rugby season.[15] Despite no initial decision as to how they will be accommodated in the competition, it was confirmed on 16 August 2012 that the Kings would take part at the expense of theLions.[16] They also announced that two-legged promotion/relegation play-off series would be played between the lowest-placed South African side in Super Rugby and the non-participating franchise every season.
The Kings made their Super Rugby debut on 23 February 2013, when they played in a Round Two match against Australian side theForce at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. The Kings won the game 22–10, withSergeal Petersen scoring two tries andDemetri Catrakilis contributing twelve points with the boot.[17] They lost their next two home matches to the Sharks[18] and theChiefs[19] before embarking on their tour of Australasia. They lost both their matches inNew Zealand – against theCrusaders[20] andHurricanes[21] respectively – but picked up log points in Australia; a try from flankerCornell du Preez three minutes into injury time and subsequent conversion from Catrakilis helped them secure a 28–all draw against eventual Australian Conference winners theBrumbies inCanberra[22] and they went one better the following week, beating theRebels 30–27, with a lateWimpie van der Walt try helping them to the win.[23] Upon their return to South Africa, they suffered three consecutive defeat, with theBulls,[24]Cheetahs[25] andWaratahs all beating the Kings.[26] The Kings beat theHighlanders 34–27 in their next match to secure their first ever bonus point victory,[27] but lost their last five matches of the season, losing to the Cheetahs,[28] and theStormers[29] before the international break, and to the Bulls,[30] Stormers[31] and Sharks[32] when the season resumed.
The Kings' top try scorer in the competition was Wimpie van der Walt, who got six tries and their top points scorer was Demetri Catrakilis, who scored 151 points. However, despite three victories and a draw, the Kings finished bottom of the South African Conference and had to play a two-leggedpromotion/relegation play-off series against theLions. The Lions beat the Kings 26–19 inPort Elizabeth in the first leg,[33] but bounced back to emerge victorious inJohannesburg, withScott van Breda scoring 18 points in a 23–18 victory.[34] However, this was not enough to retain their Super Rugby status, as the Lions won 44–42 on aggregate to return them to Super Rugby in2014 at the expense of the Kings.[35]
After the end of the 2013 Super Rugby season, the Kings lost several players to other teams. Director of RugbyAlan Solomons also left to joinEdinburgh Rugby[36] and head coachMatt Sexton later also announced that he was leaving the Kings to return to his home countryNew Zealand.[37]
On 4 September 2013,SANZAR boss Greg Peters confirmed that South Africa would get a sixth Super Rugby franchise from 2016, as the competition expanded once again.[38] This was reiterated in 2014 when SANZAR confirmed that the competition would expand to 18 teams, with teams fromArgentina[39] andJapan joining the competition.[40]
Having lost the promotion/relegation play-off to theLions, the Kings missed out on Super Rugby in2014. They also agreed to sit out the2015 season by withdrawing from the proposed promotion/relegation match at the end of 2014. In exchange, theEastern Province Kings were guaranteed participation in the2014 and2015Currie Cup competitions,[41] intended to aid the team's preparation for a return to Super Rugby in 2016.
Their return to Super Rugby was beset by financial problems, with players' salaries being paid late in four consecutive months between August and November 2015.[42] In November 2015, theSouth African Rugby Union took control of the Southern Kings franchise[43] and revealed an operational plan on 4 December 2015; the plan included the appointment ofSWD Eagles coachDeon Davids as the head coach for 2016, the identification of a fully transformed squad that they intended signing and a guarantee to pay the Southern Kings' staff and players.[44]
The Kings made their return to Super Rugby on 27 February 2016, when they hosted theSharks in Port Elizabeth. Despite aChris Cloete try opening the scoring for the Kings, the visitors eventually won the match 43–8.[45] They lost to New Zealand side theChiefs at home despite a brace of tries by hookerEdgar Marutlulle,[46] before embarking on a trip to New Zealand, where they also suffered defeats to theCrusaders[47] and theHurricanes.[48] They returned to South Africa to face fellow newcomers,Japanese side theSunwolves and got their first victory of the season, a 33–28 victory in which they scored four tries.[49] The Kings then suffered six consecutive defeats, losing at home to fellow South African sides theBulls[50] and theLions,[50] away to Argentine side theJaguares – a 27–73 defeat to set a new Kings record for most points conceded in a match, despite scoring four tries of their own[51] – an 18–34 defeat at home to New Zealand side theBlues[52] and two more defeats against South African sides theCheetahs[53] and theSharks.[54] The Kings returned to winning ways in their next match, beating the Jaguares 29–22 – also securing a bonus point by virtue out scoring four tries to one, but they were aided by two red cards for the visitors[55] – before losing their last three matches of the season to theHighlanders,[56]Lions[57] andStormers[58] respectively.Chris Cloete,Edgar Marutlulle and captainSteven Sykes were the joint-top try scorers for the Kings with four tries apiece, while fly-halfLouis Fouché was the top points scorer with 81. They finished bottom of the four teams in the Africa 2 Conference, seventh in the South African Group and 17th overall, with just the Japanese Sunwolves team finishing the season with a worse record.
The Kings started the2017 Super Rugby season on a losing note, with a 26–39 defeat to theJaguares in Port Elizabeth. They secured their first away win for four years in their next match, winning 37–23 against theSunwolves inSingapore, but followed that up by three consecutive defeats on home soil, against theStormers,Sharks andLions respectively. They lost to theForce andReds in their opening two matches of theirAustralian tour, but bounced back by beating theWaratahs 26–24 inSydney. They secured their highest victory margin in their next match, winning 44–3 against theRebels in Port Elizabeth, before securing their first ever victory over South African opposition, beating the Sharks 35–32. After losing to theBrumbies and the Lions in their next two matches, they secured 31–30 away wins to theJaguares and theBulls in their next two, before ending their campaign with a 20–21 defeat to theCheetahs inBloemfontein. Their record of six wins and nine losses saw them finish bottom of the Africa 2 Conference, fifth in the South African Group – ahead of local rivals the Bulls and Cheetahs – and 11th overall.Lionel Cronjé topped their scoring charts, finishing on 136 points for the season, the fourth-highest in the competition, while wingerMakazole Mapimpi scored 11 tries, a new seasonal and all-time record for the Kings and the joint-third highest in the competition.
In April 2017,SANZAAR announced that three clubs would be cut fromSuper Rugby for the2018 Super Rugby season, with two of those teams coming from South Africa.[59] A newly establishedSARU Franchise Committee was tasked with determining the two teams to drop out of Super Rugby,[60] and on 7 July 2017, it was confirmed that theCheetahs and Kings would not participate in the competition going forward, but would "explore alternative playing opportunities in other international competitions".[61] On 1 August 2017, the European-basedPro12 announced that the competition would expand to 14 teams – being rebranded the Pro14 – and that the Cheetahs and Kings would be the teams joining the expanded tournament from the2017–18 season onwards.[62]
This announcement came too late to ensure squad continuity, with more than 30 players leaving the franchise. On 15 August 2017 – a fortnight before the competition started – the Kings announced that head coachDeon Davids extended his contract to lead the team in their Pro14 season, and also announced the first batch of player signings.[63] With the team having just four training sessions and no pre-season matches going into the season, they suffered a 10–57 defeat to reigning championsScarlets,[64] before another loss to Irish sideConnacht.[65] They played their first Pro14 match on home soil the following week againstLeinster, losing their third match in a row with the Irish side winning 31–10.[66] After another home defeat to Italian sideZebre,[67] the Kings embarked on another tour of Europe, but was again whitewashed, losing to theDragons,[68]Benetton[69] andGlasgow Warriors.[70] Their results showed a slight upturn upon their return to home soil; despite losing 36–43 defeat toUlster,[71] the Kings picked up their first log points of the season – one for a seven-point defeat and one for scoring at least four tries – and repeated their bonus point haul in their next match, a 30–34 defeat toScarlets.[72] The Southern Kings failed to kick on from the narrow defeats, and lost toEdinburgh home[73] and away,[74] before another two defeats in their double-header derby matches against theCheetahs, losing 21–45 in Port Elizabeth[75] and 24–45 inBloemfontein.[76] They started their three-match tour of the northern hemisphere with a 10–59 loss toUlster[77] and continued their winless run with a 12–26 loss to theOspreys[78] and a record 7–64 defeat toLeinster inDublin.[79] The Southern Kings started their run of five consecutive home matches to end the season in spectacular fashion, beating Welsh side theDragons 45–13 to record their first ever win in the competition.[80] It proved to be their only victory of the season, as they finished with a narrow four consecutive losses, going down 35–36 toBenetton,[81] 22–39 toMunster,[82] 12–45 loss to theCardiff Blues[83] and 20–29 in their final match against theCheetahs.[84]
In August 2018, car manufacturerIsuzu Motors South Africa announced a deal to sponsor the Southern Kings for the next three seasons, resulting in the team officially being rebranded as the Isuzu Southern Kings. In addition, Isuzu partnered with a consortium of black business people to purchase equity in the Southern Kings, making the team the first black-owned rugby franchise in South Africa.[85] On the field, the Kings started with a 16–32 defeat toZebre[86] and a 22–27 defeat to theDragons[87] on their early-season European tour. They returned to Port Elizabeth to suffer a 7–28 defeat toUlster,[88] but bounced back in their next match, beating Scottish sideGlasgow Warriors 38–28 at theNelson Mandela Bay Stadium.[89] The Kings though would only go onto win one further game that season, defeatingEdinburgh 38–28 in January 2019,[90] while they would also draw against theDragons in April as they finished in last place in Conference B.[91][92] In March 2019, it was confirmed that a 74 percent share of the team had been purchased by a group of private individuals, with the side coming under private ownership for the first time since 2015.[93]
In June 2019, head coachDeon Davids departed the club, withRobbi Kempson taking over interim charge in August.[94] The Kings remained in Conference B for the season, beginning the season with five defeats before beating theOspreys in November.[95] The Kings would then go onto lose a further 7 matches, remaining bottom of Conference B, when theCOVID-19 pandemic brought about the suspension of the season.[96]
Following theCOVID-19 pandemic and suspensions of competitions, the Kings were taken over in the interim by SA Rugby due to failure to meet financial commitments. This decision was made to ensure the club could continue to compete in future competitions onceCOVID-19 lockdown rules were eased.[97] However, in August 2020, the board of the Kings suspended the team's playing activities for 2020 due to substantial debt the team had accrued and the costs of playing in a domestic competition organised by SA Rugby being too high.[98] Following this, in September 2020, the team was placed into voluntary liquidation to secure the long term future of rugby in theEastern Province due to debts of R55m (R45m of which was owed to SA Rugby) and with zero prospect for income in the remainder of the year and no further additional credit from SA Rugby.[99]
The Southern Kings full playing record in all competitions are:
| Pro14 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Pts For | Pts Ag | Pts Diff | Tries For | Tries Ag | Log Pts | Pos |
| 2017–18 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 378 | 829 | –451 | 48 | 119 | 11 | 7th |
| 2018–19 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 385 | 735 | –350 | 54 | 107 | 22 | 7th |
| 2019–20 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 204 | 498 | –294 | 23 | 75 | 7 | 7th |
| Super Rugby | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Pts For | Pts Ag | Pts Diff | Tries For | Tries Ag | Log Pts | Pos |
| 2013 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 298 | 564 | –266 | 27 | 69 | 24 | 15th |
| 2016 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 282 | 684 | –402 | 34 | 95 | 9 | 17th |
| 2017 | 15 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 391 | 470 | –79 | 49 | 60 | 28 | 11th |
| Other First Class games | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Pts For | Pts Ag | Pts Diff | Tries For | Tries Ag | Log Pts | Result |
| 2009 British & Irish Lions tour | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 20 | –12 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2011 IRB Nations Cup | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 97 | 52 | +45 | 10 | 5 | 13 | Champions |
| 2013 Super Rugby relegation play-off | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 42 | 44 | –2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | Relegated |
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