Cape Town - Eastern Province Kings coach Rob Kempson says his players will put the union’s financial woes behind them when they compete in this year’s Currie Cup.
Due to an ongoing financial crisis, EP Rugby will be unable to pay its players a match salary during the competition.
Bu according to Kempson, the players are eager to compete.
“All these players want to play rugby, they want the opportunity to perform and to play rugby at a professional level,” he said on Tuesday after naming his side’s for Saturday’s Currie Cup opener against the SWD Eagles in Port Elizabeth.
The game will be played at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on as a curtain raiser to the Southern Kings’ Vodacom Super Rugby match against the Bulls, with kick-off at 16:00.
Kempson announced Jeremy Ward, who captained the Under-19 team last year, would be captaining the side, with the versatile Sintu Manjezi as vice-captain of the team.
“It’s a nicely balanced side, especially having a few players on loan from the Southern Kings, such as Louis Albertse, Philip du Preez, Tazz Fuzani and JP Jonck bringing a bit of experience,” Kempson said.
“It is certainly the tallest pack that I have ever coached since being in the Eastern Cape,” he said.
Kempson said he was expecting a very physical game against SWD, as was always the case in local derbies, but did not think the team would be intimidated.
“We all know what they’re going to bring, and we're ready for it.”
EP Kings team:
15 Keanu Vers, 14 Jixie Molapo, 13 Somila Jho, 12 Jeremy Ward (captain), 11 Athenkosi Mayinje, 10 Michael Brink, 9 Chuma Faas, 8 Junior Pokomela, 7 Sintu Manjezi, 6 JP Jonck, 5 Tazz Fuzani, 4 Philip du Preez, 3 Louis Albertse, 2 Warrick Venter, 1 David Murray
Substitutes: 16 JP Jamieson, 17 Vukile Sofisa, 18 Stephan Zaayman, 19 Brandon Brown, 20 Cornell Hess, 21 Davron Cameron, 22 Courtney Winnaar