EP to review Elephants failure

Concerned EP rugby boss Maasdorp Cannon says a thorough root and branch review of what went wrong will be held after the Elephants ended the season empty-handed.

After early optimism that the Elephants would lift silverware this year, they failed to reach the Currie Cup First Division final or Mzansi Challenge playoffs.

EP’s hopes of a top-four finish and a berth in the Mzansi Challenge ended when they slumped to a 47-29 defeat against the Namibian Welwitchias in Windhoek on Saturday.

A decision not to fulfil their fixture and forfeit points against the San Clemente Rhinos two weeks ago proved costly and contributed to EP’s failure to clinch an automatic semifinal berth.

“There will be an extensive review of the whole EP Rugby system on June 24.

“This year we have come short, which is a learning curve for us,” Cannon said.

“It was a challenging year, but we must not be despondent.

“EP will have a review on where we came from and what worked and what did not work so we can improve in 2024.

“The union needs to draw lessons from it because it was a process of learning.

“We will expect the current

crop of management of the senior EP team to make a representation at the review.

“The season is not finished and we have various youth teams going to play in tournaments at the end of June.

“Then there is the SA Women’s Premier League that the EP Queens are playing in and the national U21 competition.

“We need to look at these things holistically because ultimately these are the pathways that future players should come from. EP need to build up a database of players that we need to keep at the union.

“We also need to have a look at the question of recruitment moving forward.

“EP lost a couple of players to other unions at the beginning

of the season and they played against us.

“Recruitment and what strategy we are going to use going forward will be discussed in the review and that links to budget.

“We plan to start preparing for next season as early as possible and that is why we have a review.

“EP Rugby have executive and manco meetings on a continuous basis and substructural affairs and referees are also looked at.

“These processes are supposed to be ongoing in terms of giving direction to the union going forward.”

Speaking after his team’s defeat against Namibia, EP manager Rafiek Hermans said: “After a good start, we fell apart through some disjointed defence.

“There were also errors on attack that allowed Namibia to take control of the game.

“Namibia did well to take their chances.

“EP have just not been at the races in the last three weeks.

“It is disappointing that we have finished both competitions in this manner.

“I believe we needed more effort from the collective.

“EP never got close to closing the gap that Namibia built in the first half.

“Namibia defended well and played more as a team than us and deserved the win.

“We wish them all the best for the upcoming World Cup in France.”

Mzansi Challenge log (matches played in brackets): Falcons 36 (8), Boland Cavaliers 36 (9), SWD Eagles 35 (8), Leopards 26 (9), EP Elephants 25 (9), San Clemente Rhinos 24 (8), Namibian Welwitchias 17 (9), Kenyan Simbas 12 (8), Border Bulldogs 12 (9), Zimbabwe Goshawks 8 (9).