The Eastern Province Elephants (), known as the Multisure Eastern Province Elephants for sponsorship reasons, are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup and Rugby Challenge competitions. They are governed by the Eastern Province Rugby Union (EPRU or EP Rugby). The team represents the Western half of the Eastern Cape province, and they play their home games at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.

In February 2018, the EPRU announced that the name of the team would revert to Eastern Province Elephants for the 2018 season.

History The Eastern Province Rugby Football Union was founded in 1888. The team was originally a representative team, drawing players from within the provincial union area's local clubs.

Professionalism and Super Rugby

However, with the advent of professionalism in rugby union in 1995, the team contracted players from various areas. The Eastern Province Elephants is a professional team run by the EPRU, who are also responsible for junior representative rugby teams and administrative matters in the region.

Prior to 2010, they were known as the Mighty Elephants, but in order to align themselves with the Super Rugby side the Southern Kings, who were also governed by the EPRU, they changed their name to Eastern Province Kings. After the 2010 World Cup, they moved their offices to the new Port Elizabeth Stadium to establish their new headquarters. The team is the primary feeder to the Southern Kings, which also incorporates the and the .

Financial problems and liquidation

After late payments of player salaries throughout most of the 2015 season, it came to a head in November 2015, when the EPRU failed to meet a final deadline imposed by the South African Rugby Players Association. All players' contracts were declared null and void, leading to an exodus of players. A few days later, the South African Rugby Union announced that they would take control of the affiliated Southern Kings Super Rugby franchise, and released an operational plan in early December which indicated that SARU would operate the franchise independently from the Eastern Province Kings.

After a petition handed 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, was not met, the South African Rugby Players' Association submitted a liquidation application in January 2016 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. The Port Elizabeth High Court provisionally liquidated Eastern Province Rugby in March 2016 and imposed a deadline of 10 May 2016 to pay outstanding player salaries, before the liquidation order would being made final.

The Eastern Province Kings submitted details of a rescue package to the High Court in May 2016, which saw the liquidation order being postponed until 4 August 2016. In July 2016, it emerged that the rescue package would not come to fruition and SARU withdrew their appeal against the final liquidation order. On 4 August 2016, the High Court ruled that the Eastern Province Kings should be liquidated.

Within hours of the liquidation being finalised, SARU released a statement that an Eastern Province Kings team funded by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality would continue to participate in the 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division.

Stadium

The team was originally based at St George's Park. This was also where the first South African Rugby and Cricket Tests took place. They shared the ground with the Eastern Province cricket team.

In 1959, the EPRU decided to move the team to the then named Boet Erasmus Stadium and the inauguration took place in 1960 with the test between the Springboks and Scotland on 30 April 1960. The stadium was later named Telkom Park, due to a naming rights deal, and then renamed to the current name, the EPRU Stadium. The team played most home matches at the stadium, with a few hosted at other venues in Port Elizabeth and surrounding towns. During the late 2000s, the team shared the stadium with football (soccer) club Bay United.

In 2009, the team played its first match at their current home, the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

Honours Vodacom Shield champions: 2002 Vodacom Shield Vodacom Shield runners-up: 2001 Vodacom Shield Currie Cup First Division champions: 2010, 2012 Currie Cup First Division runners-up: 2000, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2022, 2024

Results by season The table below indicates the Elephants' recent finishes. This includes games played as Eastern Province, Eastern Province Kings and Mighty Elephants.

Currie Cup Season Pool/group No. of teams Position Play-off result 1988 Currie Cup Division A 7 6th 1989 Currie Cup Division A 8 8th 1990 Currie Cup Division A 8 5th 1991 Currie Cup 6 6th 1992 Currie Cup 6 6th 1993 Currie Cup 6 3rd 1994 Currie Cup 6 6th 1995 Currie Cup 6 5th 1996 Currie Cup Section A 7 5th 1997 Currie Cup 14 14th 1998 Currie Cup 14 9th 1999 Currie Cup 14 7th 2000 Currie Cup Section X 7 5th Bankfin Cup1 6 1st Losing Finalists 2001 Currie Cup Section X 7 7th Bankfin Cup1 6 3rd 2002 Currie Cup Section Y 7 7th Bankfin Cup1 6 3rd 2003 Currie Cup Qualifying 8 6th First Division 6 3rd 2004 First Division 6 5th 2005 Premier Division Section X 7 5th First Division Section X2 3 2nd Losing semi-finalists 2006 First Division 6 4th Losing finalists 2007 First Division 6 2nd Losing finalists 2008 First Division 6 6th 2009 First Division 6 4th Losing semi-finalists 2010 First Division 6 2nd Champions promotion/relegation 2 2nd Failed to win promotion 2011 First Division 6 2nd Losing finalists 2012 First Division 8 1st Champions promotion/relegation 2 2nd Failed to win promotion 2013 First Division 8 2nd Losing finalists, promoted 2014 Premier Division 8 8th 2015 Premier Division 8 7th 2016 Premier Division 9 9th Relegated 2017 First Division 8 8th 2018 First Division 7 7th 2019 First Division 8 3rd Losing semi-finalists 2021 First Division 7 5th Losing semi-finalists 2022 First Division 10 2nd Losing finalists 2023 First Division 10 5th 2024 First Division 6 6th Losing finalists 1 Between 2000 and 2002, the top 4 in each section qualified for the Top 8 tournament, the bottom 3 in each section for the Bankfin Cup.2 In 2005, the top 4 in each section qualified for the Premier Division, the bottom 3 in each section for the First Division.

Vodacom Cup / Rugby Challenge / SA Cup Season Pool/group No. of teams Position Play-off result 1998 Vodacom Cup Section A 7 4th 1999 Vodacom Cup Southern Section 7 4th 2000 Vodacom Cup Southern Section 7 3rd Losing quarter-finalists 2001 Vodacom Cup Section X 8 5th Vodacom Shield1 6 2nd Losing Finalists 2002 Vodacom Cup Section X 7 6th Vodacom Shield1 6 3rd Champions 2003 Vodacom Shield 7 4th Losing semi-finalists 2004 Vodacom Shield 7 6th 2005 Vodacom Cup Section X 7 7th 2006 Vodacom Cup 14 12th 2007 Vodacom Cup Southern Section 7 4th Losing quarter-finalists 2008 Vodacom Cup Southern Section 7 6th 2009 Vodacom Cup Southern Section 7 7th 2010 Vodacom Cup Southern Section 8 6th 2011 Vodacom Cup Southern Section 8 5th 2012 Vodacom Cup Southern Section 8 3rd Losing quarter-finalists 2013 Vodacom Cup Southern Section 8 3rd Losing semi-finalists 2014 Vodacom Cup Southern Section 8 5th 2015 Vodacom Cup Southern Section 8 5th 2017 Rugby Challenge Southern Section 5 2nd Losing quarter-finalists 2018 Rugby Challenge Southern Section 5 5th 2019 Rugby Challenge Southern Section 8 5th 2023 Mzansi Challenge 10 5th 2024 SA Cup 10 9th 2025 SA Cup 10 TBC 1 Between 2001 and 2002, the top 4 in each section qualified for the Vodacom Top 8 tournament, the bottom 3 in each section for the Vodacom Shield.

Super 10 Season Pool/group No. of teams Position Play-off result 1994 Super 10 Pool A 5 5th

Records

Eastern Province Elephants records:

Team match records Record Opposition Venue Season Biggest win 2001 110–17 Biggest Currie Cup win 2013 63–7 Heaviest defeat 1998 12–80 Heaviest Currie Cup defeat 1984 3–65 Highest score 2001 110 Most points conceded 1998 80 Most tries 2001 16 Most Currie Cup tries 2011 11

Player match records Record Player Opposition Venue Season Most points by a player Hennie le Roux 1991 38 Most Currie Cup points by a player Bertus Kruger 1996 29 Most tries by a player Erich Knoetze Rustenburg 1991 5 Frikkie Crous 1994 5 Norman Nelson 2010 5

Team season records Record Matches Season Most team points in 27 matches 2012 875 Most Currie Cup team points in 27 matches 2012 611 Most team tries in 24 matches 2003 103 in 27 matches 2012 103 Most Currie Cup team tries in 18 matches 2012 76

Player season records Record Player Season Most points by a player Bertus Kruger 1996 282 Most Currie Cup points by a player Brett Hennessey 2002 153 Most tries by a player Manie van Vuuren 1994 14 Henry Pedro 1998 14 Fabian Juries 2003 14 Most Currie Cup tries by a player Henry Pedro 1998 13 Luke Watson 2012 13

Player career records Record Player Seasons Most appearances Barry Pinnock 1993–2002 173 Most points Giepie van Zyl 1981–1988 1,126 Most Currie Cup points Giepie van Zyl 1981–1988 755 Most tries Norman Nelson 2006–2013 56

References

External links