In 2016, the participated in the Currie Cup competition. The team played in the 2016 Under-21 Provincial Championship and the team in the 2016 Under-19 Provincial Championship.

In addition, the formally affiliated Super Rugby franchise, the Southern Kings, participateD in the Super Rugby competition between February and July. From 2016, the team is controlled directly by SARU, and has no affiliation with the Eastern Province Rugby Union or Eastern Province Kings.

Chronological list of events

2 November 2015: The Eastern Province Rugby Union announced the departure of several players; Enrico Acker, Karlo Aspeling, Eben Barnard, Albé de Swardt, Samora Fihlani, Andile Jho, Paul Schoeman, Kuhle Sonkosi, Claude Tshidibi and George Whitehead all left after their contracts expired, Jaco Grobler and Jan Uys were both given an early release of their contracts and Marlou van Niekerk joined the on loan. 11 November 2015: Following the failure of the EPRU to meet a deadline to pay their players' salaries, South African Rugby Players Association spokesperson Nyaniso Sam confirmed that all contracted players could sign contracts with other teams. Centre Tim Whitehead announced that he would be one of the players to leave the Kings. 12 November 2015: Two more players left the EP Kings, with Lizo Gqoboka joining the and Tim Agaba also announcing his intention to leave. 14 November 2015: A fourth Kings player announced his departure, with winger Luther Obi joining the . 16 November 2015: The EP Rugby Union confirmed that Obi and fellow winger Sylvian Mahuza both stated their intention to leave, but also confirmed that Louis Fouché, Carel Greeff, James Hilterbrand, SP Marais, Caylib Oosthuizen, Mark Richards, JC Roos, Jurgen Visser and Stefan Watermeyer have joined the squad and started pre-season training. 17 November 2015: The South African Rugby Union announced that they would take control of the Southern Kings Super Rugby franchise following the ongoing cashflow problems. 27 November 2015: Loose-forward Tim Agaba – who previously stated his intention to leave – and outside back Siviwe Soyizwapi are both contracted by the South African Rugby Union for the South African Sevens team on two-year contracts. 2 December 2015: Head coach Brent Janse van Rensburg resigned from his position, with the confirming ongoing talks with Janse van Rensburg about joining their coaching staff. 4 December 2015: The South African Rugby Union, who took control of the Southern Kings Super Rugby side on 17 November, announced their operational plan. As part of the plan, SARU would operate the franchise independently from the Eastern Province Kings, which meant that they would negotiate Super Rugby contracts with identified players, and not necessarily the same players previously signed to Super Rugby contract by the Eastern Province Rugby Union. 7 December 2015: Eastern Province Kings players representative handed a petition to president Cheeky Watson, in which players announced their refusal to play for the Eastern Province Kings or Southern Kings until certain issues were sorted out; these issues included outstanding player salaries, a vote of confidence in the current EPRU executive committee and the appointment of specialists to propose a sustainable funding model for the rugby union. 12 January 2016: English RFU Championship side Jersey announced the signing of EP Kings prop Simon Kerrod. 26 January 2016: Three scholars from Linkside High School were given contracts to join the EP Kings Rugby Academy - lock Hussayn Banzi, fly-half Thabo Matiso and flank Lubabalo Ndamase. 28 January 2016: The South African Rugby Players' Association submitted a liquidation application against EP Rugby (Pty) Ltd on behalf of eighteen Eastern Province Kings players who were not included in the Southern Kings Super Rugby squad for 2016 and have not received their salaries since September 2015. 9 March 2016: The Eastern Province Rugby Union confirm that Kings Academy manager Robbi Kempson would be the head coach of the Eastern Province Kings for the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series. 10 March 2016: The Port Elizabeth High Court provisionally liquidates Eastern Province Rugby, while a failure to pay outstanding player salaries before 10 May 2016 could see the liquidation order being made final.

Currie Cup qualification

Squad

The following players were named in the Eastern Province Kings squad for 2016 Currie Cup qualification series:

2016 Eastern Province Kings Currie Cup qualification squad Player Position/s Date of birth (age) First class EP Kings Apps Pts Apps Pts Prop 6 0 – – Lock – – – – Hooker – – – – Hooker 85 50 – – Fullback – – – – Fly-half – – – – Flanker – – – – Fly-half – – – – Scrum-half – – – – Lock – – – – Flanker – – – – Centre 40 30 10 5 Winger 5 10 5 10 Lock 3 0 – – Number eight 102 40 31 25 Centre – – – – Scrum-half – – – – Lock 21 0 6 0 Lock – – – – Prop – – – – Lock 51 0 12 0 Flanker – – – – Lock – – – – Lock – – – – Prop – – – – Hooker – – – – Centre 10 0 10 0 Centre – – – – Flanker 8 0 – – Fly-half – – – – Lock – – – – Lock / Flanker – – – – Fly-half – – – – Winger – – – – Winger – – – – Winger 6 0 6 0 Prop – – – – Scrum-half – – – – Scrum-half – – – – Flanker – – – – Prop – – – – Flanker 3 0 3 0 Winger – – – – Fullback / Winger – – – – Number eight – – – – Flanker – – – – Prop 5 0 5 0 Fly-half – – – – Flanker – – – – Scrum-half – – – – Fullback 21 28 – – Prop – – – – Hooker – – – – Fullback – – – – Centre – – – – Fly-half 119 557 6 5 Fullback – – – – Flanker 5 0 5 0 Winger – – – – Note: Players' ages and statistics are correct as of 9 April 2016, the date of the opening round of the competition. Appearances and points refer to the first class domestic competitions only. Appearances for Super Rugby franchises, at representative level or for foreign teams are not included.

Standings

Round-by-round

Team Progression – 2016 Currie Cup qualification Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 Opposition Bye Bye Cumulative Points 0 0 0 5 9 9 9 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 13 Position 15th 14th 14th 13th 11th 13th 13th 13th 14th 14th 14th 14th 14th 14th 14th 14th Key: win draw loss

Matches

The following matches were played in the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series:

Player Appearances

The player appearance record in the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series was as follows:

Eastern Province Kings Name App Try Kck Pts David Murray 1 1 17 1 1 1 1 1 8 1 0 5 Warrick Venter 2 2 2 2 16 2 16 2 2 2 10 0 0 0 Louis Albertse 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 9 0 0 0 Philip du Preez 4 18 18 18 18 5 18 18 6 0 0 0 Tazz Fuzani 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 11 1 0 5 JP Jonck 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 19 6 9 2 0 10 Sintu Manjezi 7 7 7 7 4 7 7 7 7 5 7 7 12 0 0 0 Junior Pokomela 8 8 8 3 0 0 0 Chuma Faas 9 20 20 20 4 0 0 0 Michael Brink 10 10 15 15 15 12 15 7 0 14 14 Athi Mayinje 11 22 14 14 14 14 11 14 14 14 10 2 4 14 Jeremy Ward 12 12 12 12 4 1 0 5 Somila Jho 13 13 13 13 22 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 22 22 13 5 0 25 Jixie Molapo 14 14 14 3 0 0 0 Keanu Vers 15 22 14 14 4 1 0 5 JP Jamieson 16 16 16 16 16 2 16 16 2 16 16 11 1 0 5 Vukile Sofisa 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 3 3 9 0 0 0 Stephan Zaayman 18 19 19 6 8 18 7 7 0 0 0 SF Nieuwoudt 19 19 19 6 7 19 19 6 7 9 1 0 5 Cornell Hess 20 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 18 5 5 11 0 0 0 Davron Cameron 21 20 9 3 0 0 0 Courtney Winnaar 22 15 15 15 10 5 4 8 28 Franswa Ueckermann 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 2 0 10 Simon Bolze 10 10 10 21 22 10 10 7 1 21 26 Lindelwe Zungu 11 11 11 15 15 15 11 11 11 11 11 15 11 13 1 0 5 Sphu Msutwana 12 21 11 11 14 12 21 21 22 21 13 13 12 1 0 5 Riaan Esterhuizen 21 21 12 12 4 0 0 0 NJ Oosthuizen 1 3 17 3 0 0 0 Tango Balekile 16 16 2 3 0 0 0 Greg Jackson 17 16 2 1 0 5 Liam Hendricks 1 1 1 1 1 1 17 3 8 1 0 5 Jacques Engelbrecht 8 8 8 8 4 0 0 0 JP du Plessis 12 13 12 12 12 5 0 0 0 Yaw Penxe 22 22 21 14 3 1 0 5 Martin Bezuidenhout 2 2 2 3 0 0 0 Garrick Mattheus 10 10 10 10 22 10 10 21 8 2 56 66 Sibusiso Ngcokovane 20 9 20 20 20 9 20 6 0 0 0 Jordan Koekemoer 21 21 21 3 0 0 0 Roché van Zyl 3 17 17 2 0 0 0 Andile Jho 12 1 1 0 5 Gerrit Huisamen 18 19 2 0 0 0 Lusanda Badiyana 19 6 8 19 8 8 8 8 8 9 2 0 10 Mabhutana Peter 22 11 21 3 0 0 0 Rouche Nel 20 20 9 9 20 20 5 0 0 0 Ivan-John du Preez 22 22 2 0 0 0 Jaco van Tonder 15 15 2 0 0 0 Rob Lyons 18 18 6 6 4 0 0 0 Wihan Coetzer 19 1 0 0 0 Hannes Huisamen 4 5 2 0 0 0 Wynand Grassmann 5 4 2 0 0 0 Jayson Reinecke 7 19 2 0 0 0 Justin Hollis 18 1 0 0 0 Stephan Deyzel 19 1 0 0 0 Brandon Brown 18 1 0 0 0 penalty try – 3 – 15 Total 14 35 103 278 Thaki Boloko, Tyler Paul, Warren Swarts, Hayden Tharratt and Elgar Watts were named in the Currie Cup qualification squad, but not included in a matchday squad.

Currie Cup Premier Division

Squad

The following players were named in the Eastern Province Kings squad for 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division:

2016 Eastern Province Kings Currie Cup Premier Division squad Player Position/s Date of birth (age) First class EP Kings Apps Pts Apps Pts Lock 2 0 – – Hooker 88 50 3 0 Prop 8 0 – – Flanker 1 0 1 0 Hooker 7 10 – – Number eight 17 0 – – Fly-half 22 99 – – Prop 80 15 21 5 Lock / flanker – – – – Scrum-half – – – – Prop 2 0 – – Lock 32 5 17 5 Fly-half / fullback – – – – Centre 19 10 – – Number eight 15 0 – – Lock 2 0 2 0 Winger 25 20 – – Flanker 18 25 – – Centre 28 10 – – Fly-half 11 85 – – Winger 58 160 – – Fullback 3 0 – – Winger 18 5 18 5 Winger – – – – Centre 95 125 1 0 Prop 22 0 – – Flanker – – – – Lock – – – – Prop 8 10 – – Scrum-half 51 10 – – Prop 14 0 14 0 Outside back 28 40 28 40 Prop 18 15 6 5 Centre / Fullback 14 41 – – Flanker 4 5 – – Scrum-half 10 10 – – Hooker 10 0 10 0 Hooker 31 20 – – Note: Players' ages and statistics are correct as of 5 August 2016, the date of the opening round of the competition. Appearances and points refer to the first class domestic competitions only. Appearances for Super Rugby franchises, at representative level or for foreign teams are not included.

Standings

Round-by-round

Team Progression – 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R1 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 SF F Opposition Bye Bye Cumulative Points 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Position 5th 8th 8th 9th 9th 9th 9th 9th 9th 9th Key: win draw loss

Matches

The following matches were played in the 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division:

Player Appearances

The player appearance record in the 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division was as follows:

Eastern Province Kings Name SF F App Try Kck Pts Schalk Ferreira (c) 1 1 0 0 0 Mike Willemse 2 2 2 2 4 1 0 5 Vukile Sofisa 3 3 3 3 17 17 3 7 0 0 0 Tazz Fuzani 4 4 4 4 4 0 0 0 David Antonites 5 5 4 3 0 0 0 Vince Jobo 6 6 6 6 6 19 6 1 0 5 Sebastian Ferreira 7 7 5 5 5 5 7 7 0 0 0 Christiaan de Bruin 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 0 0 0 Ricky Schroeder 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 7 1 0 5 Kobus Marais 10 10 10 21 4 0 21 21 Sampie Mastriet 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 7 1 0 5 Waylon Murray 12 12 12 12 12 5 0 0 0 Johann Tromp 13 15 15 15 15 15 6 3 0 15 Alcino Izaacs 14 11 22 14 4 2 0 10 Siviwe Soyizwapi 15 14 14 22 14 14 14 7 1 0 5 Martin Bezuidenhout 16 16 16 2 16 2 2 2 8 1 0 5 Justin Forwood 17 1 1 1 3 1 6 0 0 0 Dirk Grobbelaar 18 8 2 0 0 0 Brandon Brown 19 20 7 19 7 7 6 7 1 0 5 Jacques Fick 20 20 9 2 0 0 0 Berton Klaasen 21 13 12 12 13 13 13 7 2 0 10 Lungelo Gosa 22 22 21 10 15 21 22 7 0 9 9 Barend Potgieter 17 17 1 17 1 1 6 0 0 0 Etienne Oosthuizen 18 7 18 7 18 18 18 7 0 0 0 Luke van der Smit 19 19 6 19 6 19 6 0 0 0 Minenhle Mthethwa 21 14 21 3 0 0 0 JC Greyling 13 12 13 22 4 1 0 5 Dylan Pieterse 18 5 4 4 5 5 0 0 0 Ganfried May 22 15 22 3 0 0 0 Pieter Stemmet 3 3 17 3 0 0 0 Hannes Huisamen 4 18 2 0 0 0 Sphu Msutwana 13 1 0 0 0 Warrick Venter 16 16 16 2 0 0 0 Caylib Oosthuizen 17 1 0 0 0 Cullen Collopy 19 16 20 2 1 0 5 Vian van der Watt 20 20 20 20 21 5 0 0 0 Pieter-Steyn de Wet 21 10 10 10 10 5 0 27 27 Total 8 16 57 137 Dolph Botha was named in the Currie Cup Premier Division squad, but not included in a matchday squad.

Under-21

Squad