A showdown against bitter rivals the Cheetahs at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on March 29 will be one of the highlights of EP’s SA Cup rugby campaign in 2025.
A new era for EP rugby, under the stewardship of former Springbok coach Allister “Toetie” Coetzee, kicks off on March 8 when the Elephants face the Falcons in their opening SA Cup match.
EP will travel to Kempton Park to face the Falcons with high hopes they can deliver a winning start in what will be a demanding eight-match programme played over two months.
When the sides clashed at the Central Field in Kariega in July, EP pulled off a thrilling 31-27 win in a bruising Currie Cup First Division semifinal.
A fired-up EP side put their bodies on the line in a bone-jarring semifinal battle where the outcome was in the balance until the final minutes in front of a partisan home crowd.
The Elephants have set their sights on finishing among the top four clubs so that they can win promotion to the top tier Currie Cup Premier Division.
EP will play four home matches at the NMB Stadium and four on the road ahead of the SA semifinals on May 17.
EP’s other home matches are against the Pumas (March 15), Leopards (April 6) and Griffons (May 3).
In 2024, the SA Cup tournament was a brutal reminder of how far EP Rugby had fallen behind its national top-tier rivals.
They were beaten 61-0 by the Pumas, 50-0 by Griquas and 59-26 by the Cheetahs in a series of one-sided matches.
EP’s president George Malgas said Coetzee had been asked to submit a worldwide wish list of marquee players he wants to sign ahead of the 2025 SA Cup tournament.
Malgas said EP would do everything in its power to help Coetzee build a team capable of winning promotion to the Currie Cup Premier Division.
He said former Springbok coach Coetzee had been given a three-year contract with the view to extending it further.
Coetzee said there was no time for EP to lose and that the players would be put through a gruelling phase of conditioning to hit the ground running when the SA Cup kicks off.
“We know that without a budget, Toetie is going to battle,” Malgas said.
Though EP have yet to name their squad, insiders say they are talking with players who have links to Gqeberha and have played in the United Rugby Championship.
Coetzee said EP must bring star players home to Gqeberha from rival teams and formulate a retention plan to revitalise the union.
“It will be a great challenge to build a winning EP team again and I am excited to be back in Gqeberha,” he said.
“We have to make sure we create an EP for EP and bring back players from EP to represent EP.
“The first big job is to build a squad.
“I am happy for the support of the executive who have bought into the vision we have.
“Getting this plan right will not be easy and we will have to follow a process.
“If I look at teams that we need to beat in the SA Cup, they are the Griffons, Griquas, Pumas, Cheetahs and Boland.
“The reality is we have to beat three of those five and we also have to beat three of them away to be in a position to qualify for the Currie Cup Premier Division.”
EP’s SA Cup fixtures: March 8 vs Falcons (away), March 15 vs Pumas (home), March 22 vs Eagles (away), March 29 vs Cheetahs (home), April 6 vs Leopards (home), April 13 vs Griquas (away), April 26 vs Border Bulldogs (away), May 3 vs Griffons (home). Semifinals: May 17. Final: May 24.
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