Coming into this season, the Southern Kings’ record in the Guinness PRO14 has been dire. Just two wins (last season vs Edinburgh and Glasgow) and a draw over two seasons left fans with very little to smile about.

Vuyo Zangqa, former Blitzbokke World Series winner has coached across the world, but this summer got taken on board with the Southern Kings to be their assistant coach.

Southern Kings

At the same time Isuzu came on board as title sponsors for the club and the team was bought out by a “consortium of predominantly black business people” and club chairman, Loyiso Dotwana claimed that “[Kings] is the home of black rugby- our team will promote social cohesion in South African Rugby”

When I sat down with Zangqa, he seemed focussed, but down to earth about Kings and their prospects.

“We come from a very negative past. We have to be honest about where we’re coming from, what we’ve achieved and what we haven’t achieved”

“I think for us, we always knew it was going to be tough. We’re hopeful, but we know it’s not going to be easy”

Chairman Dotwana made no bones last season about Kings wanting to win the Guinness PRO14. Zangqa is on board with the mission, but accepts there are challenges.

“It’s gonna get there, but in getting there you need to create the product to get there, the awareness. Eastern-Cape has the most talented rugby players in the country. Then they leave to play at the Sharks (Durban), the Stormers (Cape Town) and overseas”

“We want to bring an attractive product so we can convince parents in schools, keep your kids here, this is their home”

“If you start winning overseas, you start picking up fans overseas, people who want to buy Kings jerseys, then it makes life easier at home”

In that respect, Zangqa and his side laid the foundations for that, recording their first ever overseas win in the Guinness PRO14 a day after this interview, beating the Ospreys 14-16 at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea.

Adding to Dotwana’s comments, Zangqa widens the scope of the Southern Kings mission further than just representing black people in South African Sport.

“If we can say to ourselves, out of the 23 players in our matchday squad, 20 are from the Eastern-Cape, 10 are black from the province, 10 are white from the province, that sells a bit of a better product. Parents will want their kids to join that group”

“How white, how black our team is, it’s a team for everyone in the Eastern Cape”

Race and the Rugby World Cup

When talking about South African rugby, the question of race is never far away. 2019 was yet another historic year for South African rugby as the nation lifted its third rugby World Cup, the first to be lifted by a black captain, Siya Kolisi. The effect of winning a World Cup is embodied by Zangqa himself.

“For any kid my age it was pretty simple. Rugby World Cup 1995 was probably one of the kick starters of our rugby careers”

“Before 1994, black kids were not allowed to mix with white kids, so that meant we grew up playing football”

“Look, it’s no joke that racially that game (2019 final) was probably one of the biggest for South Africa, but, in saying that, it’s tough to look past 30 days of winning the World Cup”

“Are things going to change? Are things going to get better? Are there going to be more facilities provided for the underprivileged?

“Look at [Makazole] Mapimpi, he didn’t get picked up at school, so he didn’t get a scholarship, so he went to his rural area school and played for his local club”

“He got picked up for border, he got picked up by the Kings, left Kings for Cheetahs, left Cheetahs for Sharks, so all of a sudden things started happening, but that was late in his career”

“He’s 27 or 28, he’s almost at the end of his career, but the fortunate part is that he’ll be one of the players who will win a World Cup”

In sport we often talk about the pathways provided to players, the opportunities afforded to them, but Zangqa doesn’t feel that this is the crux of the issue in South Africa’s case.

“A lot of black players are getting scholarships from playing at school. The difference is when you’re in a non-rugby school and you want to play rugby; there isn’t any coaching and most of the time the kids can’t play rugby because they need boots, they need kit”

“If you’re the one driving school scholarships, if you do everything in your power to make sure that the family is comfortable, then the chances are, you’ll get a successful product out of that”

“It’s the family structure, support to the family, more than the player itself and you will bring the player benefits”

You might expect when speaking to a South African about the Rugby World Cup for it to all be about South Africa, but that was not the case with Zangqa.

“I would have backed my countrymen to win it based on motivation, but when we looked at the game, being realistic about who is playing better rugby, I would have said England”

“Of course, the New Zealand game against England was pretty special”

“If you look at the way New Zealand played in that 2nd half against South Africa and the way England played against New Zealand, those were probably the two best games for me”

“Obviously we have to include the hosts Japan. They were phenomenal against Ireland and they came out against Scotland and just demolished them”

On watching the final, the Kings had touched down in Scotland by this point, but luckily for them, they were amongst friends in celebrating the final result.

“I was watching the game [the final] in a hotel in Scotland, so it was nothing really special, but obviously the boys went out for a couple of drinks to celebrate and the Scottish fans were all supporting South Africa for some reason..”

You can follow Vuyo Zangqa on Twitter: @vuyozangqa

The Scribbler, 12th November 2019

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