Innocent Radebe and Courtney Winnaar lead EP Elephants exodus – EXCLUSIVE

Star players Innocent Radebe and Courtney Winnaar have left the Eastern Province Elephants and lead an exodus of professionals from the troubled Gqeberha-based union.

The Elephants are scheduled to take on the Cheetahs in a warm-up game that is geared towards getting both teams up to speed ahead of the start of their respective Currie Cup Premier and Division One campaigns. The likes of Radebe and Winnaar were not spotted at training this week, which then prompted questions over their futures at the union.

Elephants players missing from training

Reports earlier in the week then went as far as pointing out that it wasn’t just Radebe and Winnaar that were missing as former Springbok mentor Pieter de Villiers was putting the Elephants players through their paces. It then emerged that the likes of Josiah Twum-Boafo, Keanu Vers and Athi Mayinje who had formed part of their Preparations Series earlier this year.

These news may come as a shock to many, as despite a rather disastrous Preparations series, there was a belief and a renewed feeling of optimism that, the Elephants would strengthen their ranks through shrewd recruitment. The hope from rugby lovers in the Eastern Cape region was that those recruits, coupled with the harsh lessons learnt from playing against stronger opposition would stand them in good stead going into a level they’re more accustomed to.

The Elephants already lacked players of a certain calibre

It is now apparent that will not be the case for the Elephants, who are now expected to have to start all over again. They had entered the Preparations Series with a squad dominated by players who had not played in the professional ranks, with the likes of Radebe, Winnaar, Twum-Baofo, Vers, Mayinje, CJ Velleman, Lupumlo Mguca, Christopher Hollis and Joshua Allderman the only players with noticeable top-level rugby experience.

Speaking to The South African website the source confirmed that the likes of Radebe and Winnaar had indeed departed.

Source confirms Elephants player departures

“It is true, I know one of the players left because his contract was up and he did not get a new contract. He was called in by the Elephants powers that be who explained to him that they would like to keep him in the side, but they also made it known that finances could become a stumbling block in that regard, so the player left,” said the source.

Asked if the situation was the same for all the players, the source stopped short of confirming that.

Couldn’t confirm reasons for other player’s departures

“I do not know about everyone else’s reasons, I am just 100% sure about this one player because he confirmed it to me himself, and had also alerted me that the others had also left. I do, however, imagine that it is the same situation with the rest as well, but unfortunately, I can’t confirm that for sure.” the source confirmed.

Both Radebe and De Villiers were contacted for clarification but had chosen not to respond at the time of publishing.

Only three players from the Southern Kings regime remain

It now remains to be seen how many of the players who were part of the Preparations series remain at the union, with the likes of Mguca, Allderman and Velleman now the only remaining professional players at the union as things stand.

Radebe’s departure serves as a crushing blow to the Elephants, who he joined as part of a marquee duo with De Villiers, a duo the union would’ve hoped to build a successful revival around. That much was quickly made apparent with the former immediately entrusted with the captaincy responsibilities. His qualities shone through on his debut, despite a crushing defeat to the Bulls, but injury would restrict him to just one more appearance for his now former team.

What does the future hold for the players?

Radebe’s impressive 79-minute showing for the Toyota Invitational side, who he helped to an impressive victory over the Cheetahs last week Saturday, further illustrated his qualities and would’ve had Elephants fans licking their lips at what he could be set to do for their side. However, it now unfortunately seems like it will be another union that will be benefitting from his resurgence.

Winnaar, who was the unions’ vice-captain, and player they leaned on heavily during Radebe’s lengthy injury lay off, is a loss that rubs salt to the Elephants wounds. A player whose qualities were confirmed when he won Sharks u21 player of the season in his first year at the union when he joined from the EP Kings u19 side.

The South African website have it on good authority that an overseas-based agent has already earmarked his talents as worthy to be taken abroad. It remains to be seen if that move will materialise.

Mayinje, who has been a part of Eastern Province rugby structures since U12, transitioned from a speedy try-scoring machine on the win, to a burly hard running outside centre, is rumoured to be on his way to fellow Currie Cup Division One side the Griffons, ahead of the new season.

Allderman confirmed to the publication that he is still contracted to the union for at least the next two months, and it looks unlikely that Elephants will be able to hold on to his talents as it is understood that the former Bulls u21 scrumhalf has also set his sights on a move abroad. It is also expected to be a tough task for the union to keep star openside flanker Velleman who was previously loaned to the Griquas.

De Villiers will have to do a miracle job now

The likes of Twum-Baofo and Vers are rumoured to still be looking for greener pastures. When the Elephants lost one of their brightest lights in the Preparations Series in Hollis, it was seen as a major setback and potentially pointed to a mass exodus. The exodus has now come to life and De Villiers and co. will now be working against the clock to put a competitive team together for the upcoming season.