In 2016, the Southern Kings participated in the 2016 Super Rugby competition, their second appearance in the competition after also playing in 2013. They were included in the Africa 2 Conference of the competition, along with , and .

Chronological list of events

17 November 2015: Following the failure of the to pay their players at the end of November 2015, the South African Rugby Union announced that they would take control of the Southern Kings Super Rugby franchise. 23 November 2015: SARU announced that an operational implementation task group was set up to oversee the running of the Kings. 25 November 2015: SARU announced the details of their operational plan for the Kings; the head coach Deon Davids was named the head coach of the Southern Kings for the 2016 season, with Mzwandile Stick appointed the back coach, Barend Pieterse the forwards coach and Nadus Nieuwoudt the conditioning coach. In addition, a number of consultant coaches from SARU's mobi-unit could also be utilised throughout the season. It was also revealed that a playing squad of 42 players were planned, which would meet all Strategic Transformation Plan guidelines. 13 December 2015: The names of the first 20 players to sign up for the Kings for 2016 were released. The players were Thembelani Bholi, Tom Botha, Aidon Davis, JP du Plessis, Schalk Ferreira, Louis Fouché, Shane Gates, Siyanda Grey, James Hall, Cornell Hess, Malcolm Jaer, Kevin Luiters, Edgar Marutlulle, Tyler Paul, Junior Pokomela, Steven Sykes, CJ Velleman, Stefan Watermeyer, Elgar Watts and Stefan Willemse. Eastern Province CEO Charl Crous was named the Chief Operating Officer of the Southern Kings. 4 January 2016: SARU announced that prop Jacobie Adriaanse and lock Schalk Oelofse also joined the Kings for the 2016 Super Rugby season. In addition, Lukhanyo Am, Onke Dubase, Billy Dutton, Leighton Eksteen, Monde Hadebe, Ntando Kebe, Michael Makase, Mihlali Mpafi and Luzuko Vulindlu all joined the training squad on a trial basis. 8 January 2016: The Kings announced that loose forward Jacques Engelbrecht, who represented the Kings during the 2013 Super Rugby season, would return for the 2016 season. 22 January 2016: The Kings confirmed that Lukhanyo Am, JC Astle, Chris Cloete, Leighton Eksteen, Martin Ferreira, Tazz Fuzani and Luzuko Vulindlu all joined the Kings for 2016. 25 January 2016: Three more players were confirmed for the Kings for 2016 – hooker Martin Bezuidenhout, lock Philip du Preez and fullback Jurgen Visser. Another fullback, Jaco van Tonder joined on a trial period.

Personnel

Coaches and management

The Kings coaching and management staff for the 2016 Super Rugby season are:

2016 Kings coaches and management Position Name Head coach Deon Davids Forwards coach Barend Pieterse Backs coach Mzwandile Stick Conditioning coach Nadus Nieuwoudt Doctor Dr Conrad van Hagen Physiotherapist Kim Naidoo Team manager Zingi Hela

Squad

The following players were named in the Kings squad for the 2016 Super Rugby season:

2016 Kings squad Player Union Position/s Date of birth (age) Super Rugby Kings Apps Pts Apps Pts Golden Lions Prop – – – – To be confirmed Prop 13 0 – – Eastern Province Kings Prop – – – – Sharks Centre – – – – Sharks Lock – – – – Eastern Province Kings Hooker 34 15 – – Eastern Province Kings Flanker – – – – Eastern Province Kings Prop – – – – Pumas Flanker – – – – Eastern Province Kings Number eight 1 0 1 0 Eastern Province Kings Centre 3 0 – – Eastern Province Kings Lock – – – – SWD Eagles Fullback – – – – To be confirmed Number eight 28 5 15 5 Eastern Province Kings Hooker – – – – Eastern Province Kings Prop 31 5 15 5 Eastern Province Kings Fly-half 23 47 – – Eastern Province Kings Lock – – – – Eastern Province Kings Centre 5 0 5 0 Eastern Province Kings Winger 4 0 4 0 Eastern Province Kings Scrum-half – – – – Western Province Prop – – – – Eastern Province Kings Lock – – – – Blue Bulls Fly-half / Fullback – – – – Eastern Province Kings Fullback – – – – Eastern Province Kings Flanker – – – – Border Bulldogs Scrum-half – – – – Boland Cavaliers Fly-half – – – – Eastern Province Kings Scrum-half – – – – Eastern Province Kings Lock / Flanker – – – – Eastern Province Kings Hooker 12 0 4 0 Sharks Winger 10 20 – – SWD Eagles Flanker – – – – SWD Eagles Lock – – – – Eastern Province Kings Lock / Flanker – – – – Eastern Province Kings Number eight – – – – SWD Eagles Winger – – – – Western Province Prop 3 0 – – Eastern Province Kings Prop – – – – Eastern Province Kings Lock 96 55 13 5 Sharks Fullback 3 – – – Eastern Province Kings Flanker – – – – Eastern Province Kings Fullback 31 13 – – SWD Eagles Centre / Winger 9 5 – – Eastern Province Kings Centre – – – – Eastern Province Kings Centre 14 10 – – Eastern Province Kings Fly-half 19 87 – – Eastern Province Kings Flanker – – – – Note: Players' ages and statistics are correct as of 27 February 2016, the date of the opening round of the competition. Appearances and points refer to the Super Rugby competition only and excludes the 2013 relegation play-off series against the .

Log

Matches

The Kings will play the following matches during the 2016 Super Rugby season:

Player statistics

The Super Rugby appearance record for players that represented the Kings in 2016 is as follows:

2016 Southern Kings player statistics Player name App Try Kck Pts Schalk Ferreira 1 1 1 17 17 1 1 1 1 1 17 17 12 2 0 10 Martin Ferreira 2 2 16 16 2 16 16 16 2 9 0 0 0 Tom Botha 3 18 18 18 18 3 18 3 3 3 18 18 3 18 18 15 0 0 0 Steven Sykes 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 13 4 0 20 JC Astle 5 5 5 5 5 5 19 5 5 5 19 5 5 5 5 15 0 0 0 Chris Cloete 6 6 6 20 20 6 6 6 6 9 4 0 20 Thembelani Bholi 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 9 1 0 5 Jacques Engelbrecht 8 8 8 8 20 20 20 20 20 8 10 0 0 0 Ntando Kebe 9 9 21 9 9 21 21 9 21 21 9 9 9 13 0 0 0 Elgar Watts 10 22 22 22 22 10 10 10 22 10 22 11 1 26 31 Malcolm Jaer 11 11 11 11 11 11 15 15 15 15 10 2 0 10 Shane Gates 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 14 1 0 5 JP du Plessis 13 23 23 22 11 13 13 23 8 1 0 5 Luzuko Vulindlu 14 14 14 14 14 14 11 11 11 11 23 11 2 0 10 Jurgen Visser 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 10 0 3 3 Edgar Marutlulle 16 2 16 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 13 4 0 20 Sti Sithole 17 17 17 1 1 1 1 17 1 1 10 0 0 0 Louis Albertse 18 17 2 0 0 0 Schalk Oelofse 19 19 19 19 19 19 5 19 4 5 19 19 4 13 0 0 0 CJ Velleman 20 20 20 6 6 20 8 8 8 6 10 0 0 0 Leighton Eksteen 21 23 23 23 23 5 0 0 0 Louis Fouché 22 10 10 10 10 10 10 22 22 22 10 10 22 10 14 1 76 81 Charles Radebe 23 1 0 0 0 Jacobie Adriaanse 3 3 3 3 3 18 18 18 3 3 3 3 12 0 0 0 Stefan Watermeyer 13 13 13 13 12 22 13 13 13 13 13 13 12 3 2 17 Martin Bezuidenhout 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 7 0 0 0 Kevin Luiters 21 9 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 8 0 0 0 Jaco van Tonder 23 23 23 15 23 5 0 0 0 Stefan Willemse 7 7 7 19 20 20 6 7 7 7 7 11 0 0 0 Justin Ackerman 17 18 17 17 17 17 17 18 8 0 0 0 Aidon Davis 8 8 20 8 8 8 8 8 20 9 0 0 0 Siyanda Grey 14 1 0 0 0 James Hall 9 9 21 9 9 9 9 7 2 0 10 Lukhanyo Am 13 13 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 10 1 0 5 Liam Hendricks 1 1 0 0 0 JP Jonck 6 1 0 0 0 Cornell Hess 19 1 0 0 0 Wandile Mjekevu 11 11 11 11 4 3 0 15 Dewald Human 22 22 10 3 1 5 10 Andisa Ntsila 6 6 2 0 0 0 Sintu Manjezi 19 19 2 0 0 0 Jeremy Ward 23 23 2 0 0 0 penalty try – 1 – 5 Total 15 34 112 282

See also

Southern Kings 2016 Super Rugby season

References