Four former Grahamstown players are part of the Southern Kings squad preparing for the coming Vodacom Super Rugby season.
Luzuko Vulindlu (Grahamstown-born), Tyler Paul, Sintu Manjezi and Ross Geldenhuys (all former St Andrew's pupils) are members of the squad.
Four former Grahamstown players are part of the Southern Kings squad preparing for the coming Vodacom Super Rugby season.
Luzuko Vulindlu (Grahamstown-born), Tyler Paul, Sintu Manjezi and Ross Geldenhuys (all former St Andrew's pupils) are members of the squad.
The Southern Kings were in Port Alfred this week for a team camp, with their first day of training on Tuesday.
The side was welcomed to the town by the mayor, Phindile Faxi, and members of the council.
With the objective of fine-tuning on-field and off-the-field planning ahead of the start of the Vodacom Super Rugby, Southern Kings head coach Deon Davids was please with how preparations for the season had started.
“This is a fantastic place to have a training camp," he said. "It’s a lovely environment," he said, noting the warm welcome they'd received from the mayor and his council.
“We are looking forward to the week," Davids said. "We've had an excellent day one, focusing on the building of our culture, what we expect from each other and what it is that we are looking to gain this season.”
With the team-building towards their first pre-season friendly match against the Border Bulldogs in East London on Saturday, Davids highlighted what the team would be focusing for the rest of the week.
“We are starting to work on our leadership groups and identifying our leaders for the rest of the campaign,” Davids said.
“From a rugby perspective, we are finalising our detail in terms of the stuff that we have covered so far. We are also fine-tuning and learning some new stuff that we want to deal with before the Bulldogs game.
“We also need to select two teams for the Border Bulldogs game and next week’s friendly game against the SWD Eagles.
"From now on we are training in order to build those combinations, and to gain some clarity around some structures and systems that we want to put in place.”
The Southern Kings will be based in Port Alfred until Friday, before moving on to East London in preparation for the clash against the Border Bulldogs at the Buffalo Stadium. The match will kick off at 5.15pm on Saturday.
Southern Kings 2017 Super Rugby squad
Full Backs
Johann Tromp
Chysander Antonio Botha
Ntabeni Dukisa
Wings
Yaw Penxe
Siyanda Grey
Alshuan Bock
Makazole Mapimpi
Malcom Jaer
Wandile Mjekevu
Centres
Waylon Michael Murray
Berton Klaasen
Neil Kobus Maritz
Luzuko Vulindlu
Flyhalves
Pieter-Steyn de Wet
Garrick Frederick Mattheus
Lionel Cronje
Banda Coyi
Scrum halves
Louis Schreuder
Rick Schroeder
Johannes Hermanus Steyn
Rudi van Rooyen
Eighthmen
Ruaan Stephen Lerm
Christiaan Pieter de Bruin
Flanks
Stefan Willemse
Cyril–John Velleman
Tyler Warne Paul
Thembelani Bholi
Andisa Ntsila
Christopher Anthony Cloete
Onke Dubase
Locks
Cameron Lindsay
Sintu Manjezi
Irne Philip Herbst
Wandile Putuma
Mzwanele Zito
Hookers
Martin Bezuidenhout
Michael Willemse
Tango Balekile
Kurt Stanley Haupt
Props
Justin Forwood
Schalk Jacobus Petrus Ferreira
Chris Heiberg
Schalk van Der Merwe
Ross Geldenhuys
Dyan Van der Westhuizen
sport@grocotts.co.za