EP’s fresh start
23 Sep 2010
EP Kings director of rugby Alan Solomons talks to GRANT BALL about transformation, keeping players in the province, and getting ready for Super Rugby.
What has the move from Ireland to Port Elizabeth been like?
I’ve found myself coming full circle. I was born in Uitenhage and went to school at Grey PE. There’s a bunch of good people at EP, from the CEO Anele Pamba to president Cheeky Watson. Good people make a huge difference in a move like this. I still do the odd bit of consulting for the IRB, but it’s not a big thing.
How difficult was it luring back players who were earning big salaries overseas?
That’s the fantastic thing about guys like Darron Nell and Rory Duncan. They appreciate what we’re doing here. They want to be here at the start of the journey and they know there’s light at the end of the tunnel. For Darron, I think the whole experience of playing in a British & Irish Lions game made a big difference to him. He was here for 10 days for that game, and he could see he was a part of something good. In that regard it wasn’t difficult getting back guys who are from the region. In terms of general recruitment, we really need a Super Rugby franchise, because other good players with no previous links to the area want to play at that level. But that will be resolved, and we’ve been guaranteed Super Rugby entry in 2013 by Saru. As far as I’m concerned, we’ve been given unequivocal backing from the top. It’s got to happen now.
What’s your response to people who say the Kings’ Super Rugby inclusion won’t be a boost for transformation?
Against Boland we had four players of colour in the starting team, but Mpho Mbiyozo was still injured and for the first time this season, less than a third of the side was black. But that’s not what this team’s about. There’s no numbers game and everyone is picked on merit. There’s a relaxed atmosphere at training and guys speak English, Afrikaans and Xhosa. The black guys feel at home more than they do anywhere else. I’ve selected a leadership group of six players, and of those, only De Wet Barry isn’t from the Eastern Cape. We’ve also got Tiger Mangweni, Mzwandile Stick, Darron, Rory, and Mpho. De Wet’s committed himself to the region, proof of which is him learning to speak Xhosa. When we played the Valke the following week, we had six players of colour in the starting team and two on the bench. That isn’t an issue for us, and it shouldn’t be for the pessimists.
Will you be able to get black players to return to the Eastern Cape?
I’d love it if every black player who’s been developed in this region came back, because they get lost at some of the other unions. Without a Super Rugby franchise in the Eastern Cape they’ve had no aspirational pathway. It’s going to be tough, but we’ve started a process. You can see from all the players’ body language how happy they are to be back home. My motto is to bring them home and keep them home. They want to be part of something special.
How do you think Mbiyozo will make the transition from sevens back to the 15-a-side game?
I coached Mpho at UCT [University of Cape Town] in 2005 when they were part of a relegation scrap, and he was exceptional. I couldn’t understand why he hadn’t got any opportunities with WP and the Stormers. We saw when he played for the Kings against the Lions last year – he hadn’t played 15s for a while and he was adjudged Man of the Match. I don’t think he’ll battle with the adjustment. He’ll be back by the end of August after keyhole surgery on his shoulder which he injured while playing sevens.
What’s been the key to EP’s best Currie Cup campaign in years [they are top of the First Division log]?
It’s difficult to comment on the past few years as I wasn’t here, but hard work has been vital. Everyone here has been prepared to do it – from the administration, to the coaching staff, to the players. We’ve tried new things with the players, and they’ve been happy to embrace change. We made things difficult for ourselves against the Griffons but got the result, and the win against Boland away from home was a big victory for us. Winning breeds confidence.
What was the thinking behind bringing backline coach David Maidza from the Border Bulldogs?
David worked with us against the Lions and I was very impressed. When we approached him, he could see a bright future. He’s a first-class coach and an outstanding guy. He’s looking to develop himself as a coach and we want to give him opportunities to travel. We’ve made a tentative approach to the Western Force for him to go there for two or three weeks in December to work with Richard Graham, who will be their coach once John Mitchell leaves. Rich is a brilliant skills and backs coach, and all coaches should want to up-skill themselves, which is what David wants to do. He is highly intelligent, articulate and he’s got a good manner with the players.
Why did EP change its name to the EP Kings this season?
Cheeky and Anele were behind the thinking and know more about the reasoning, but I think it’s great. Everything about the team is new; we’re moving into the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on 1 September, and wanted a fresh start. The Mighty Elephants belonged to the Boet Erasmus and things are changing with the Kings. This is a new beginning.
How do you plan to incorporate Border and SWD into the Kings franchise?
I don’t see it as a problem. When I coached the Stormers, we easily negotiated bringing in Boland and SWD. You always have an anchor union, which EP are here, and it makes sense as PE is the biggest city [compared to George and East London] and we have the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. With the Stormers, we had camps in George so that SWD felt part of the franchise, and we also played warm-ups against Boland and SWD.
How does your job as director of rugby branch into other areas?
We’re doing our best with the professional team, but it’s also about under-pinning that with high-performance teams. We’ve started working with the schools, age-group sides and universities in the region, which never happened in the past as there essentially hasn’t been any professional rugby here, and therefore none of the professional structures. We’re also taking a road trip to the top 27 schools in the region with guys like [former Bok centre] Danie Gerber and [ex-Bok prop] Robbie Kempson.
How long will it take to stop the excessive loss of players to other unions?
It will take two or three years to arrest the haemorrhaging. We’ve made inroads already and we’ll make academy signings this year. It’s all part of a process.
Some argue that even though the Cheetahs have a Super Rugby franchise they still loseplayers. Why will the Kings be any different?
It’s very simple. The Cheetahs lose players every year because for some or other reason they don’t perform at Super Rugby level. They aren’t as wealthy as the other unions and their players get poached, and therefore they’re unable to compete. But we’ll have the financial wherewithal that the Cheetahs don’t have and we’ll make a mark in Super Rugby. The consequence is that the players will stay.
How important is it to gain promotion to the Currie Cup Premier Division next season?
That’s the ideal scenario. Like everyone in the First Division, we’re looking to move up. We want to play a higher level of rugby. If we play in the Currie Cup Premier Division in 2011 it will facilitate our entry into Super Rugby two years later. But we’ve only played a few games and aren’t even halfway through the season, so it’s early days. Our ambition is to get to the Premier Division. At times we might go sideways or a little backwards, but ultimately we’re moving forward. People in the region have seen what’s happening and interest is rising. We must also remember that we had the most representative rugby crowd for the Kings’ match against the Lions last year, which shows the interest and hunger for sport across all racial groups. Although not every South African has links with the Eastern Cape, we should all be working together to support the union, not criticise it.
Is EP going to set up a rugby academy?
Our ideal model is to have players coming from high school to the academy while studying at varsity in PE, playing for EP U19, and also NMMU [Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University] in the Varsity Cup and the local league. NMMU will model themselves on our structures, and our academy players will be based at the stadium, along with all the senior players. The university and academy will play a central role in the development of the franchise.
How worrying is NMMU’s last-place position in the Varsity Cup?
We’ve got to tackle the problem of NMMU. We had our first meeting with their staff at the start of the season and have rekindled our involvement with them. We want them to be a success, not like the recent past. We’re determined to make them powerful, which they have to be for the sake of the province. NMMU have to be a
pathway for players to the senior team; they must have the same approach as the professional side.
– This article first appeared in the September issue of SA Rugby magazine
Click here to subscribe to print edition
Click here to subscribe to digital edition
289 Comments
Pages: « 1 [2] 3 4 5 6 » Show All
23 Sep 2010, 12:06 pm
@Might
That’s right, because with all the major unions looking to get their hands on him he’s going to go to PE??
23 Sep 2010, 12:11 pm
pity …..Luke would have been an ideal captain there…..and of course could then also captain boks once the fat boys club hit the road.
23 Sep 2010, 12:12 pm
i wonder who will captain boks on eoyt…..i heard as many as 13 players may be left at home…
23 Sep 2010, 12:19 pm
@g10. Boks sending a 2nd XV up here then? people will be calling for the return of the senior players in no time.
23 Sep 2010, 12:20 pm
tenminste f0k die Warriors almal op … EP!!! (gisteraand net save gespeel om semi’s te maak)
23 Sep 2010, 12:23 pm
Wit seuntjie vra vir sy swart ma: Mamma, hoekom is ek wit en jy is swart?
Mamma antwoord: My kind, ek was so wild in my jong dae, jy kan bly wees jy blaf nie!!!!!!!!!
23 Sep 2010, 12:27 pm
shut up you inbred cracker trailer park speed freak.
23 Sep 2010, 12:28 pm
@gunther: criticism is one thing and i have no problem with that, but prejudiced criticism is bullsh*t! Not once when i questioned andy goode or naqelevuki’s drafting by wp & sharks did the race of the player disadvantaged come into play, not once!
Now all of a sudden some ‘sons of the soil’ are exclusively deprived @ EP, please.
Every union affiliated with Saru has the responsibility to transform the game! Never mind that it has to take outside factors to nudge uncle toms like oregan hoskins into prattling on…
Anele Pamba has very tight links with Absa, i’ll have you know that
23 Sep 2010, 12:30 pm
Big Hit
Very good arcticle on Superrugby site in this regard….
I dont know how to cut n paste…..but a very insightful read
23 Sep 2010, 12:35 pm
absolutely.
but as pissant has commented the kings have positioned themselves as the posterboys of transformation.
anyway take race aside…lets just pretend its possible in sa.
ep has bags of talent no?
what are they doing with this joker?
same story as the fijian. and yes many people in the press etc wondered what he was doing there keeping someobdy like gio aplon (a transformational tick shall we put it) out of the side.
anyway if they change their mind I’m sure Anele Pamba knows someone at the home office who can get his work permit pulled.
23 Sep 2010, 12:37 pm
I realy like to keep an open mind about the Kings, but im afraid its not quite going to work out the way they want it to.
I agree that they will do well for transformation, but thats where it ends. They will be a transformation factory for the bigger unions, the Sharks, Bulls and WP wil be waiting for the kings to produce young talented black players, and they will snatch them away, with big cheques and an oppertunity to play for a top union. And no young player, black or white will turn down such an offer as it also gives them a better chance to be spotted to play for the Boks. So the Kings will be never get going and build a team that can compete at Super rugby level.
Look at the Lions\Cheetahs\cats, they have been part of super rugby since the start, and never realy managed to compete, a good example of how they have struggled over the years, is the Lions 2010 super14 campaign, losing all their matches, and they have been part of super rugby for over 10-15 years and still they dont compete.
So explain to me how will a union like EP hold on to their best players and compete at super rugby. Even by the time 2013 super rugby come, they will not be ready.Imagine the Kings playing the Bulls or Crusaders in super rugby, they will realy hurt them as they will have cricket scores knocked against them.
Use them as a matter of a transformation setup, as that they will do that well, but trying to compete in the best and toughest rugby tournament in the world. no way, its not happening!
23 Sep 2010, 12:38 pm
grant: next time i’m in cape town – which is soon – remind me to teach u how to cut ‘n paste
as gunther said i’m the ‘lionel messi’ of cut ‘n paste hahahahaha 
23 Sep 2010, 12:42 pm
We’ll see how many ‘ethnic blacks’ not the Malay hybrid the Kings bring into the 22, being in the ‘cradle of black rugby’.
23 Sep 2010, 12:42 pm
sharkie10: don’t be myopic, before this season which other union had lost all their super rugby games in a season, and who was their coach?
23 Sep 2010, 12:48 pm
its true transie you are an artist with that mouse.
a mouse dj.
23 Sep 2010, 13:10 pm
Contracting a foreign prop or hooker is one thing, because they’d hardly be keeping a son of the soil out. But a blêkwing? In the cultural home of the blêkwing? Surely that’ll get you summonsed to The Hague. The hills of the Eastern Cape are literally crawling with out of work blêkwings, and they pick a Polynesian rattail. Kohmpela is going to fckingplutz.
23 Sep 2010, 13:14 pm
ja transie
the blonde showed me twice….then gave up on me….fark i am not very good on this laptop…
all i do is keo and e mails !
23 Sep 2010, 13:25 pm
@grant10(grant10)-59: just read it, think they’re mad taking Jean De Villiers, he could do with the rest.
23 Sep 2010, 13:42 pm
@grant10(grant10)-67: the blonde seemed like someone with loads of patience
23 Sep 2010, 13:47 pm
64. Transformation(Transformation) the Bulls
23 Sep 2010, 13:55 pm
the comments here reflect SA society. Quite sad really. All the best to the EP Kings. Their only downside was that it took them so long to establish professional structures…….now lets see them grow.
And by the way remember a few weeks back how so many people were saying how poor the Lions were (even Keo himself)……see what good admin and a decent coach can do?
23 Sep 2010, 13:57 pm
@grant10(grant10)-67:
You call Just_Rugby ‘the blonde’?
23 Sep 2010, 14:00 pm
look jr isn’t a natural blonde…
just ever since he read breakfast at tiffany’s
23 Sep 2010, 14:01 pm
@XV(XV)-71: don’t worry, todd clever was not keeping jonathan mokuena out of the team. You see the lions are not ‘posterboys for transformation’ so anything goes with them, they can deprive ‘sons of the soil’ game time and it’s ok
.
So where’s clever now and where is mokuena?
23 Sep 2010, 14:02 pm
@gunther(gunther)-74: Eish… I think that went right over the Budgieforum’s heads… bloody funny!
23 Sep 2010, 14:06 pm
HG
yes they are not well read.
eish.
23 Sep 2010, 14:08 pm
no transie the lions are not posterboys for transformation.
the kings are.
ask solly.
23 Sep 2010, 14:24 pm
@gunther(gunther)-77: yes, f*cking beautiful duplicity
23 Sep 2010, 14:40 pm
@gunther(gunther)-78:
did the lions ever lay claim to be the engine room of transformation?
or only now that they are thinking of moving to FNB stadium?
23 Sep 2010, 14:53 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-74: I am on your side mate! Real transformation needs to begin in the mind. Its not about colour.
23 Sep 2010, 15:08 pm
@XV(XV)-81:
oops looks like a bit of friendly fire there.
blue on blue as we used to say in the stahn.
23 Sep 2010, 15:09 pm
@gunther(gunther)-79: they are signatories to the SARU transformation charter!
23 Sep 2010, 15:12 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-83:
surely they are all signatories?
but are they posterboys?
23 Sep 2010, 15:13 pm
@gunther(gunther)-79: this is exactly the type of hypocrisy i’m talking about, every union should be taken to task about transformation, not only those that are percieved to be ‘posterboys’! Every union!
23 Sep 2010, 15:16 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-85:
absolutely.
but the kings should be leading the charge no?
23 Sep 2010, 15:27 pm
@gunther(gunther)-85: they bloody are gunther, are you mad?
23 Sep 2010, 15:30 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-87:
good then they don’t need an imported backline player do they?
you are going to have to calm down on the kings my chum.
imagine when they start playing the super 15.
you are going to have a cardiac event.
23 Sep 2010, 15:32 pm
@gunther(gunther)-85: what you and pissant missed in the first place is that transformation is not ONLY about player numbers & colour! If the Kings are run by ‘businessmen’ like pissant & dumile are suggesting, then that will be TRANSFORMATION as it will mean they’be broken off the mould that has been used and is seemingly outdated!
Every bloody union should be striving to be posterboys of transformation!
23 Sep 2010, 15:35 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-88: And you seem to miss the point that the EP Kings can’t, for one minute, stop crowing about their transformation pedigree and plans. And then they go and import a ladybasher from Polyfuckingnesia. To play wing. In the spiritual home of the blêkwing. That, my transformer friend, is a little rich.
23 Sep 2010, 15:50 pm
This site is fcked. Does no one care anymore?
23 Sep 2010, 15:53 pm
@katman(katman)-89: indeed the site moer toe!
Keo’s weekly newsletter will return next
week Friday 30th September.
Have a great long weekend!
23 Sep 2010, 15:58 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-89:
run by businessmen?
then that will indeed be transformation?
what next municipalities run by managers?
where will this transformation end?
23 Sep 2010, 16:02 pm
@katman(katman)-89:when Alan Solomons talks, next time read with comprehension Puss-in Boots! ‘At times we might go sideways or a little backwards, but ultimately we’re
moving forward.’ quit being judgemental, it’s unbecoming!
23 Sep 2010, 16:04 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-93: Oh, so if you interject rubbish like that into whatever you’re saying, no one can hold you to your bullshit claims?
23 Sep 2010, 16:05 pm
@gunther(gunther)-92: did you not read what pissant said? You’re agreeing with him blindly hehehe
wouldn’t be suprised 
23 Sep 2010, 16:08 pm
“Mr Jackie Selebi, the court finds you guilty on all charges.”
“Objection, your honour. I clearly stated, on record, that I occasionally go sideways, or even backwards.”
“Oh, you did? Why did no one mention this to me? Bailiff, release this man.”
23 Sep 2010, 16:09 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-93: Come now Transie, you like the Kings, we get it. This does not entitle them to a free ride though. They are not exempt from criticism of any kind. This is Keo, there are no holy cows. You should know that by now. Being judgemental is what we are here for!
23 Sep 2010, 16:10 pm
@katman(katman)-96:
23 Sep 2010, 16:11 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-96:
you miss the point unsuprisingly…
and then take the low road…
23 Sep 2010, 16:14 pm
@Taahirah(Taahirah)-97: hehehe just fending off these pretentious buggers
Pages: « 1 [2] 3 4 5 6 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.