Off-season relocation of players gets under way

NOW that the dust has settled on their testing Currie Cup Premier Division campaign, the off-season comings and goings in the EP Kings rugby camp will start in earnest.

It has already been announced that prop BG Uys, wing Sergeal Petersen and loose forward Devin Oosthuizen will be relocating to Bloemfontein where they will link up with the Cheetahs.

Flyhalf Ntabeni Dukisa is off to Kimberley to play for Griquas while lanky lock Steven Cummins will be returning home to Australia where he will join up with the Melbourne Rebels.

Other players who failed to gain regular starting berths in the Currie Cup are also likely to seek greener pastures next year.

After losing nine matches on the trot in the premier division, EP Kings head coach Carlos Spencer was asked if some of his players might be out of their depth in the top flight.

He replied: "To say whether we have the right group or not at this point is not the right time. We will sit down and assess that moving forward." It is likely that the Kings will also seek to reinforce their squad in key positions ahead of their return to Super Rugby in 2016.

There is also the possibility that some of the bigger unions will try to sign a few of the Kings players who shone in a losing cause.

This was something that Pumas coach Jimmy Stonehouse reflected on after his team were beaten 26-25 in their final game of the season by the Kings.

His team made a solid start to their Currie Cup campaign, but then faded away as they lost momentum in the closing weeks of the campaign.

"We had a problem from other unions and the agents suddenly looking at the players, and as a result the players lost focus," Stonehouse said.

The bigger unions' squad sizes was another area Stonehouse felt his team were unable to match.

The Pumas coach said: "Coming into the second half of the season you are also playing against teams that can do squad rotations which you can't because you don't have the same quality in depth in your squad.

"Experience is one of the biggest things and that's why I said at the beginning of the season that you need three seasons to adapt from the first division to the premier division," Stonehouse said.

The 26-year-old Kings prop Uys has signed on for the Cheetahs from the beginning of next month and will be eligible for their Super Rugby campaign next season.

He will add much-needed depth to the Cheetahs squad, with front-rankers in Bloemfontein seemingly in short supply at present. "We have done our homework on BG, he's a good replacement for Trevor Nyakane. With Os du Rand's help he can become a really great prop," Cheetahs head coach Naka Drotske said.

Uys joined the Kings last year but failed to feature during their inaugural Super Rugby campaign, instead playing a part for the Leopards in the Vodacom Cup.

Despite having never played a Super Rugby match, Drotske believes Uys will be able to make the step up.

Oosthuizen has signed a one-year deal to play for the Cheetahs. - George Byron