The 2023 Eastern Cape Super 14 Rugby Tournament was launched at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha at the weekend.
This tournament, the biggest in the Eastern Cape, was launched by provincial Department of
Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture MEC, Nonceba Kontsiwe, in partnership with the Eastern Cape Sports Confederation and two Eastern Cape Rugby Unions.
The tournament will kick-off on January 21.
This year, the Eastern
Cape Super 14 will have 16 teams as they welcome two new teams from other
provinces to take part in the tournament. The two
teams are East Rand United, that hails from Reiger Park just outside Boksburg in
Gauteng and the Crusaders from George.
Kontsiwe welcomed the invited teams and said that their participation in the EC Super 14 will lift the
standard of rugby in the province.
“We
are a diverse province that prides itself in its sporting abilities. Our people
from different races across the depth and width of our province call rugby
their preferred code, therefore we have a duty to bring top level club rugby to
them wherever they are.
We
also want to welcome East Rand United from Gauteng and Crusaders from George in our province and we hope that they will enjoy
playing against Eastern Cape teams. The two teams will also give our teams a chance
to test themselves against unknown opponents,” Kontsiwe said.
MEC
Kontsiwe, together with the President of the Eastern Cape Sports Confederation, Mzondeleli Qotoyi, handed over
playing kits to all participating teams. Kontsiwe also announced a new sponsor of the tournament, Heritage Rugby, that invested R7, 5 million in the tournament for the next three
years.
The
winners of this year’s Eastern Cape Super 14 Rugby Tournament will walk away
with R100 000 while runners-up will go home with R60 000. Teams
finishing in third and fourth places will receive R50 000 and
R40 000 respectively.
