SA Rugby pays tribute to ‘great servant’ Rademan

EASTERN Province Rugby Union president Andre Rademan was a “great servant of the game” who worked tirelessly to bring stability to the sport in the province.

That was part of the tribute paid by SA Rugby president Mark Alexander, after Rademan passed away on Tuesday night due to Covid-19.

The 62-year-old Rademan had won re-election as EP Rugby Union president in May after his first four-year term.

SA Rugby said in a statement yesterday that Rademan had been on a ventilator in hospital in Gqeberha, having tested positive for Covid-19 a while ago.

Rademan had tried hard to get EP rugby back on track after a tumultuous recent history that saw them drop out of top-flight rugby in the Currie Cup Premier Division, while the Southern Kings were relegated from Super Rugby, which was followed by their demotion out of the PRO14 as well.

EP had lost most of their sponsors as a result, a situation worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The EP Elephants returned to action in the Preparation Series earlier this year under new coach Peter de Villiers, although they suffered heavy defeats as they were forced to field a team filled with mainly amateur club players.

But they had a Covid-19 outbreak in June, which saw 11 players and coach De Villiers contract the virus, and they have all since recovered.

EP have played four matches in the Currie Cup First Division in recent weeks, winning one and losing three, with their most recent encounter a 41-20 defeat to Border in East London last Saturday.

“We’ve lost a great servant of the game. Andre brought stability to Eastern Province in a difficult time, and always put the needs of his province above his own,” Alexander said yesterday. “With Andre steering the ship in EP, things started looking much better, and he worked incredibly hard to ensure the union was in a good place. Andre kept his head down and never stopped working for EP.”