The Eastern Province Kings’ bid at becoming a force in South African rugby has been boosted by the acquisition of more Shimlas.
Hooker Frank Herne will soon join the Kings, while flyhalf George Whitehead and wing Beast Nwandwa will also be available for them.
They will join former Shimlas centre Wayne Stevens and scrumhalf Gerrie Odendaal in Port Elizabeth.
Stevens and Odendaal were both members of the Kings team that recently won the Currie Cup’s First Division and will be in action in Witbank in the first promotion-relegation match against the Pumas on Friday.
The Shimlas have also made an acquisition in flyhalf/fullback Shaun Davids, who previously played for Tukkies in the Varsity Cup.
Centre Charl Weideman, who played for the Maties in this year’s Varsity Cup and for the Griffons in the Currie Cup, may also play for them.
Herne was the captain of the Free State under-21 side this year. He represented the SA Academy side in 2007 and will join the Kings on November 1.
Whitehead, who is also a Free State under-21 player, has a bursary agreement with the University of the Free State. He has to complete six months of his studies there next year.
While he has not officially signed a Kings contract, he should play for Shimlas in the Varsity Cup and be in Port Elizabeth by July 2011.
Nwandwa will play for the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in next year’s Varsity Cup and may also be used by the Kings. He played for the Free State under-21 side with Whitehead and Herne.
Eastern Province certainly have a liking for Free State players as props André Schlechter and Riaan Vermeulen, locks Rory Duncan and Barend Pietersen, No 8 Darron Nell and flyhalf Jaco van Schalkwyk have already played for the Kings.
Sport24 also reportedly recently that former Free State’s Falie Oelschig, who plays scrumhalf for French club Stade Francais, will report for duty in Port Elizabeth in May 2011.
by Jóhann Thormählen
I don’t think that the majority of people understand how important it is for the EP Rugby Union to return to the top flight competitions.
As the 6th “Test Province” SA Rugby needs this vital area to be strong and to continue developing talent.
As a last thought, in the 1980’s Natal could not gain promotion to the CC top flight, continually losing Promotion / Relegation games against the likes of Northern Free State (now the Griffons) and Eastern TVL (Valke).
This situation was eventually “fixed” by SARFU “expanding” the CC and including Natal who immediately grasped the olive branch, re-branded themselves and have never looked back.
If for Natal, why not for the Kings?
@ Scrumdown:
I remember in the 80’s when the Eastern province came to ellispark, it was good competitive matches.
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