Big King returns home to coach in PE

NEWS: The Southern Kings took a giant leap closer to finalising their coaching set-up for the 2019-20 Pro14 season.

Former South African Sevens and Southern Kings assistant Vuyo Zangqa has returned to Port Elizabeth.

The Kings confirmed that Zangqa has been appointed as an assistant coach of the franchise for the 2019-20 Pro14 season.

Zangqa's return comes at a time when the search for a head coach is at a premium.

The Kings Board issued a statement this week to pour cold water on the "largely inaccurate" speculations in the media regarding the ongoing process of appointing a new coach for the franchise.

"While the job advertisement for the vacant position called for a candidate with a World Rugby Level Three qualification, as per minimum requirement for all elite coaches, and experience at the highest level, it was discovered that only one of the candidates that were interviewed had the required qualifications," the Kings statement said.

"Notwithstanding the above, following the completion of the process of interviews, the interviewing panel ranked the candidates in terms of their technical capacity for the job."

Chairman of the Kings board Loyiso Dotwana will present the panel's recommendations at the next Board meeting, before a final decision is made.

Zangqa, who was an assistant at the Southern Kings in 2017, has coached in Germany for the last two years.

He represented the BlitzBoks in 21 tournaments on the Sevens circuit between 2007 and 2009.

A car accident in 2009 brought an unfortunate end to his playing career, but Zangqa made a successful transition into coaching - assisting Paul Treu with the BlitzBoks, before also working with Treu at the Kenyan Sevens team.