Saturday’s Investec Champions Cup match between the Stormers and Stade Rochelais at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium highlighted one of the biggest anomalies in SA Rugby. The 17,058 fans who paid to watch the clash demonstrated that Bay fans always come out in big numbers to admire the skills of top-class Test stars like Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Cobus Reinach. Unfortunately, the EP Elephants have been unable to claw their way out of the lower leagues in recent years and have become trapped in the second-tier Currie Cup First Division.
Stormers coach John Dobson, speaking after the match in Gqeberha, said EP’s plight was a tragedy and not good for the well-being of SA rugby. He pointed out that EP, because of its talent base and top rugby-playing schools, should be a hotbed for the game. First Division matches lack crowd appeal, and only a few hundred die-hard supporters turn up when EP play at the NMB Stadium or Madibaz Stadium.
EP have been forced to operate on a semi-professional basis, and this has left them at a severe disadvantage when they play teams like the Cheetahs, Pumas and Griquas in the SA Cup. All top-flight games staged in Gqeberha during 2025 were well supported, which underlined the Eastern Cape’s love for the game. Topping the list in 2025 was a visit by the Springboks, who maintained their unbeaten record at the stadium when they thrashed Italy 45-0 in front of a sellout crowd of 46,000.
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New ground was broken when the Junior Springboks played three matches at the stadium in the U21 Rugby Championship during May. A vibrant crowd of 15,000 fans turned up to watch their final match against the All Blacks in a magnificent show of support for age-group rugby.
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