Cup champions will test Kings in opener
Coach Mzwandile Stick feels team can rise to challenge in Vodacom Cup
WHEN the EP Kings heard they had drawn the Kenyan Tusker Simba XV at home in their first match of the Vodacom Cup they must have viewed it as a golden opportunity to get their campaign off to a winning start.
The Kings, with a new policy of fielding stronger teams in the Vodacom Cup, would have been confident making home ground advantage count at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on March 21.
EP fans, hungry for success, were already licking their lips in anticipation of an emphatic bonus point win to kick start their team’s campaign.
Circumstances, however, conspired to change their opening day opponents from a modest Kenyan outfit to defending champions Griquas after the Simba XV had to pull out of the competition because of financial constraints.
Faced with a potential crisis, SA Rugby bosses decided to move Griquas from the North to the South section to take the place of the cash-strapped Kenyans.
So this will no longer be a gentle opener, but a real test for the Kings as they prepare for Currie Cup Premier Division rugby later this year and their re-entry into Super Rugby in 2016.
The Kings are desperate to atone for a miserable season last year when they managed to win only three of their seven Vodacom Cup matches and Griquas will fully test their early season aspirations.
It must be said one of those defeats was against the Kenyans, but the Kings were in the middle of a failed experiment of using club players in the Vodacom Cup which backfired badly.
Griquas will be extra fired up for their visit to Port Elizabeth because it is no secret that the Kimberley-based side feel the Kings have received preferential treatment regarding their promotion to the Currie Cup Premier Division .
Last year Griquas clinched the Vodacom Cup for the fifth time when they beat the Golden Lions by 30-6 in the final at GWK Park in Kimberley.
It was Griquas’ first Vodacom Cup title since 2009 and also avenged their home defeat in the in the final seconds of the 2012 final against Western Province.
Griquas won their other Vodacom Cup titles in 1998, when they also beat the Golden Lions in the final, as well as 2005 and 2007.
In preparation for the opener against Griquas, the Kings have lined up two home pre-season friendlies against the Cheetahs on March 6 and the Golden Lions on March 14.
With Griquas taking the place of the Kenyans, EP’s remaining home games in the Vodacom Cup are against Western Province (April 11), SWD (April 25) and the Sharks (May 8) at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. Away games include Border (March 28), Free State (April 18) and Boland (May 2).
“It’s a pity Kenya decided to withdraw, but we respect their decision,” SA Rugby chief executive Jurie Roux said.
