Cape Town - The Kings’ request to the South African Rugby Union (SARU) to allow them more than two foreign players in Super Rugby has been rejected, according to a report on the Rapport website.

The Eastern Cape franchise has five overseas players on its books - three more than the allowed number for South African teams in Super Rugby. They are fullback Hadleigh Parkes, scrumhalf Nicolas Vergallo, utility forward Daniel Adongo, hooker Virgil Lacombe and loose forward Tomas Leonardi. They were all recently included when the Kings announced their Super Rugby squad.

The Kings’ request was rejected by SARU at the end of last year, but the men from Port Elizabeth were still hoping on a change of heart from the country’s rugby administrators. Their president, Cheeky Watson, said two weeks ago they were “still talking to various role players”.

However, according to Rapport, SARU’s decision was made final at a meeting on Friday, with an official announcement regarding the matter expected to be made on Monday.

The Kings will play in the Super Rugby competition at the expense of the Lions. It will be the first time a team from that region has played Super Rugby since 1994 when Eastern Province played in the old Super 10 series.

The Kings start their campaign against Australia’s Force in Port Elizabeth on February 23.

Super Rugby squad recently announced by the Kings:

Forwards:

Boetie Britz, Rynier Bernardo, David Bullbring, Kevin Buys, Cornell du Preez, Jacques Engelbrecht, Jaco Engels, Schalk Ferreira, Ross Geldenhuys, Lizo Gqoboka, Virgil Lacombe, Tomas Leonardi, Bandise Maku, Edgar Marutlulle, Mpho Mbiyozo, Darron Nell, Daniel Adongo, Devin Oosthuizen, Steven Sykes, Wimpie van der Walt, Luke Watson (captain)

Backs:

Demetri Catrakilis, Ronnie Cooke, Wesley Dunlop, Siyanda Grey, Johan Herbst, Michael Killian, SP Marais, Scott Mathie, Waylon Murray, Hadleigh Parkes, Sergeal Petersen, Marcello Sampson, Shakes Soyizwapi, Wayne Stevens, Andries Strauss, Elrich van Vuuren, Shaun Venter, Nicolas Vergallo, George Whitehead

HAVE YOUR SAY: Are you happy with the decision not to allow the Kings more than two foreign players in Super Rugby? Or should SARU have given them some leeway? Send your thoughts to Sport24.