Wolfson must be "House of Pain"
Kwazakhele’s Wolfson Stadium must be turned into an intimidating “House of Pain” for opposition teams when they play the EP Elephants, EP manager Thando Manana said.
This season the Elephants have are unbeaten in the SuperSport Rugby Challenge at the Wolfson Stadium, and Manana says the crowd have helped to inspire the home team.
EP president Andre Rademan, coach Chumani Booi and captain Lubabalo “Giant” Mtyanda has also credited the crowd for their passionate support during matches against the SWD Eagles and the Border Bulldogs.
“Wolfson Stadium has been good to us in terms of our changing fortunes. The fans are our 16th player,” Manana said.
“This is a venue that has been neglected, but has every facility you can think of and it is surrounded by a lot of rugby history. If you look at the last two games we have scored 17 tries so the players clearly love this venue.
“So we have not lost here in the SuperSport Rugby Challenge and we have a perfect record of two out of two.
“A lot of teams come here not knowing what to expect and we want to make it a house of pain. The Elephants must defend like Trojans and inflict death to our opponents early on like we did against Border and SWD.
“In the first half we inflicted so much pain that it was difficult for Border to get back into the game and cut the deficit.
"The Wolfson is going to be our home for EP Rugby. There were other options, but we are glad we came to Kwazakhele. The crowds have been tremendous.”
Manana also pointed out that the venue had hosted a Guinness PRO14 match between the Southern Kings and Ulster.
“If you look at the Madibaz Stadium where the Kings play their PRO14 matches it is on the edge of PE. I would, however, not like to comment on the strategy of the new business consortium who own the Kings about where they play their matches.
“EP want to take rugby to the people where the masses are and put bums on seats. There are a lot of rugby fans who live around the the Wolfson and it is easily accessible.
“This ground has given the Elephants a lot of energy and the players have a freedom to express themselves.”
Captain Mtyanda said the Wolfson crowd had given the his team a big boost in the opening games.
“It was a nice vibe because the community came out and supported us. When we had ball in hand we could feel the crowd moving with us us.”
President Rademan said there had been a fantastic atmosphere inside the stadium.
“We are taking the game to the people and to grass roots. You could see the fans enjoyed the rugby and they rallied behind the team. This encourages the team to do even better.”
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