Steven Sykes
Steven Sykes
The Eastern Province Kings’ injury list just keeps on growing as a further 6 players have been added to the ‘already injured’ list.
Knee injuries seems to be common among the EP Kings players – 5 players have already undergone surgery and will be out for a number of weeks – and lock Steven Sykes has now added his name to that list.
Aidon Davis (6 months), Gary van Aswegen (2 weeks), George Whitehead (2 months), Cameron Lindsay (9 months) and Luke Watson (pre-season) have all already had knee surgery and a call on Sykes’ availability for the final Round clash with DHL Western Province will be decided later in the week.
Other than Sykes, there are a further 5 players who emerged with injuries following their 27 / 48 defeat at the hands of the Vodacom Blue Bulls.
Martin Ferreira (dead leg), Tom Botha (elbow), Dwayne Kelly (hamstring strain), Tim Whitehead (AC joint) and Luther Obi (ankle sprain) will all be treated and monitored during the week.
Steven Sykes
Born in Middelburg (Eastern Cape) on 5 August 1984, 31-year-old Steven Robert Sykes will play his 100th Currie Cup game when the EP Kings take on ORC Griquas at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday 26 September.
Sykes attended Cradock Primary School and Marlow Agricultural, and represented EP at various age-group levels, including the EP Under 13 team in 1997 and the Under 18 EP Craven Week team in 2002.
In 2003, Sykes linked up with the Sharks Academy in Durban and that year he also represented South Africa at the World Under 19 Championship.
Following their 37 / 21 Currie Cup defeat to the Xerox Golden Lions in Johannesburg at the weekend, the EP Kings have reported new injury concerns.
- Lock Cameron Lindsay suffered a knee injury in the defeat and will see a specialist on Wednesday.
- Centre Ronnie Cooke picked up a toe injury and was sent for X-rays on Monday.
- JP du Plessis who replaced Cook, also suffered an injury. Du Plessis has a soft tissue knee injury and will be monitored during the week.
- Lock Steven Stykes – who missed last week’s clash due to a rib injury – will also be monitored during the week.
Players on the long-term injury list include flyhalf / centre Shane Gates (foot), flank Jacques Engelbrecht (hip), lock David Bulbring (shoulder), flyhalf Gary van Aswegen (knee), flank Aidon Davis (knee) and flyhalf / fullback George Whitehead (knee).
Steven Sykes
Lock Steven Sykes will captain the EP Kings when they wind up their match preparations for next month’s Currie Cup campaign with a friendly against Western Province at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday.
In a bid to give all his players some exposure in their build-up to the Currie Cup, Kings coach Brent Janse van Rensburg has predictably introduced a theme of rotation after their friendly against the Blue Bulls last weekend.
There is a new front row in Lizo Gqoboka, Martin Ferreira and Maks van Dyk, while Paul Schoeman will start on the side of the scrum following an injury to Thembelani Bohli last week.
At scrumhalf, Enrico Acker, who scored the only try against the Blue Bulls last weekend, will get his first chance to start for the Kings, while centres Marlou van Niekerk and JP du Plessis have an opportunity to prove themselves in midfield.
In the other change to the backline, Sylvian Mahuza returns from injury and will start on the wing, with Siviwe ‘Shakes’ Soyizwapi dropping to the bench.
Steven Sykes
Former Sharks lock Steven Sykes has joined the Cheetahs squad as they prepare for the Super Rugby competition.
According to reports, it remains unsure if Sykes has signed a contract with the Cheetahs or just training in Bloemfontein on a trial period.
Sykes will compete for a spot in the Cheetahs’ Super Rugby team with the likes of Lood de Jager, Francois Uys, Carl Wegner and Armandt Koster.
Eastern Province Kings:
The captaincy curse has struck the winless Eastern Province Kings again, with another skipper sidelined.
Steven Sykes will join Luke Watson in the sickbay and will not be on duty the against the Sharks in Durban on Saturday, according to the Kings medical team.
Sykes will be missing the upcoming game due to a knee injury that he sustained during the loss to the Free State Cheetahs last Saturday.
The Southern Kings will have to appoint a new captain for the game on Friday when they take on the DHL Stormers (in a pre-season Super Rugby warm-up game for the Stormers) at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
The Southern Kings have named an unchanged starting line-up for their derby clash with the Stormers in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
The 3rd Article in the set discussing the Southern Kings.
In this Article we look at the contenders for LOCKS in the Southern Kings 2013 Super Rugby group, and what their worth will be in Super Rugby terms.
The Southern Kings are looking “far and wide” for players to make them competitive when they debut in Super Rugby next year.
The latest reported players to apparently have signed for 2013 includes centre Andries Strauss from the Cheetahs and lock Steven Sykes from the Sharks.
The Sharks received a timely boost with the news that lock Steven Sykes will join up with his teammates in Sydney later this week – ahead of their Super Rugby encounter with the Waratahs.
The 3rd and Article in the set discussing the Sharks Super Rugby players for 2012.
In this Article we look at the contenders for LOCKS in the Sharks 2012 Super Rugby group, and what their worth will be in Super Rugby terms.
The Sharks have confirmed the extension of several prominent players’ contracts ahead of the upcoming Super Rugby season.
Lock Steven Sykes has opted to return to the Sharks ahead of their Super Rugby campaign, following a short stint at Leinster.
Georgia winger Lekso Gugava was on Monday suspended for five weeks after being found guilty of making a ‘dangerous tip tackle’ in his team’s final World Cup pool game against Argentina.
Argentina (5) 25 / Georgia (7) 7 (Final Score)
Argentina and Georgia did battle in Palmerston North at 02:00 SA Time (13:00 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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Georgia led 7-5 at half time but only one team came out in the second half. Argentina scored 20 unanswered points in the second half. Penalty count against Georgia 17 vs 8.
Georgia (12) 25 / Romania (6) 9 (Final Score)
Georgia and Romania did battle in Palmerston North at 08:30 SA Time (19:30 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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In the sloppiest, most error-ridden game of the tournament, thus far, the Georgians managed to grind out the win.
England (17) 41 / Georgia (10) 10 (Final Score)
England and Georgia did battle in Dunedin at 08:00 SA Time (18:00 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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Despite a 31-point winning margin and 6 tries, England will not feel at all happy about this match and you can bet your bottom dollar that Martin Johnson must be secretly fuming at the ill-dicipline and overall incompetance of the England side.
If Georgia had a kicker who could slot the penalties, the score would have been very different.
That said, it’s 5 Log points in the bag for England.
Scotland (9) 15 / Georgia (3) 6 (Final Score)
Scotland did battle with Georgia in Invercargill at 09:30 SA Time (19:30 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & 4, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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A Tryless match!
Scotland were mostly in control of the match, but they were blunt on attack against a gutsy Georgian side who defended like trojans.
The Scottish and Georgian teams have been announced for their clash on Wednesday.