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EPRU Stadium, also known by its original name of Boet Erasmus Stadium, was a stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The letters "EPRU" in the name represent the Eastern Province Rugby Union, the stadium's historic primary tenants, whose team is now known as the Mighty Elephants. The original name Boet Erasmus Stadium was named after Boet Erasmus, a former mayor of Port Elizabeth. It had a capacity of 33,852 people and served primarily as a venue for rugby union matches but also hosted a number of association football (soccer) fixtures.

The stadium closed in 2010 and was demolished in 2019.

Background

Music

On 6 March 2007, Irish vocal pop band Westlife held a concert during The Love Tour, in-support of their record, The Love Album.

French Canadian singer Céline Dion performed for over 17,000 people on 27 February 2008 during her Taking Chances World Tour.

Rugby

Boet Erasmus stadium was primarily used as the home of rugby in the Eastern Cape. Situated in the affluent suburb of Summerstrand, it hosted matches at Test, Super Rugby, Currie Cup, Vodacom Cup and club level. It was regularly used by the Eastern Province Elephants under their previous names, the Mighty Elephants and the Eastern Province Kings and hosted their two home matches during the 1994 Super 10 season. The stadium was also the intended home of the Southern Spears, a team that was scheduled to play in the 2006 Currie Cup in preparation for its admission to the Super Rugby starting in 2007. However, the Spears were later denied entry into both competitions.

The stadium is credited for being the first stomping ground of a number of Springbok legends, included in which are Danie Gerber, Garth Wright, Frans Erasmus and Hannes Marias.

The Battle of Boet Erasmus

In 1974, during the 1974 British Lions tour to South Africa, one of the most violent matches in rugby history was dubbed the "Battle of Boet Erasmus Stadium". After a 99 call by Lions, there is famous video footage of J.P.R. Williams running over half of the pitch and launching himself at Moaner van Heerden, something that Williams says he is not proud of. Gordon Brown hit his opposite number, Johan de Bruyn, so hard that the Orange Free State man's glass eye flew out and landed in the mud.

At the 1995 Rugby World Cup on 3 June 1995, South Africa took on Canada in a clash that has also sometimes been dubbed the Battle of Boet Erasmus. The match, which South Africa ultimately won 20–0, was marred by an on-field scuffle with four players involved in a brawl. South Africa hooker James Dalton, who had come to the aid of a teammate who had been struck on the back of the head, and winger Pieter Hendriks were suspended for the remainder of the tournament for their roles in the incident and could only watch from the sidelines as the nation went on to claim its first Rugby World Cup title.

Soccer

The stadium was used as the home ground for Port Elizabeth's, Bay United F.C. who moved to the stadium for their 2008/2009 season in the Premier Soccer League. The club used the stadium again at times during their 2009/2010 campaign in the National First Division. This was due to availability problems with their preferred home ground, the Westbourne Oval.

Closure and abandonment

The stadium was officially closed in July 2010. The Eastern Province Rugby Union has moved all games to the new world class Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. The last match to be played at the stadium was a friendly against the Blue Bulls on 3 July 2010. The Boet hosted age-group, amateur and club rugby matches after being officially closed but has since been abandoned, with vagrants and thieves having slowly dismantled the stadium to such an extent that all that remains are the concrete structures. The local municipality, who own the property, has asked for proposals from the private sector for the redevelopment of the land.

The stadium was demolished in 2019.

International tournaments

1995 Rugby World Cup

The stadium was one of 9 venues throughout South Africa used for the Rugby World Cup. The stadium was used for group games in Group A. It hosted 3 games, including the match between South Africa and Canada:

Date	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Round	Attendance
1995-05-26	Canada	34-3	Romania	Group A	18,000
1995-05-31	Australia	27-11	Canada	Group A	15,000
1995-06-03	South Africa	20-0	Canada	Group A	31,000

1996 African Cup of Nations

When the tournament was moved to South Africa, the EPRU Stadium was chosen as one of 4 host stadiums. A total of 6 pool games were played at the stadium, as well as a quarter-final:

Date	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Round	Attendance
1996-01-14	Ghana	2–0	Ivory Coast	Group D	8,000
1996-01-16	Tunisia	1–1	Mozambique	Group D	1,000
1996-01-19	Ghana	2–1	Tunisia	Group D	1,000
1996-01-21	Ivory Coast	1–0	Mozambique	Group D	500
1996-01-24	Algeria	2–1	Burkina Faso	Group B	180
1996-01-25	Tunisia	3–1	Ivory Coast	Group D	1,000
1996-01-28	Ghana	1–0	Zaire	Quarterfinals	8,000

2010 FIFA World Cup

During the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the stadium was used as a logistics point for Port Elizabeth, a host city.

International matches

Rugby

Date	Team #1	Result	Team #2	Round	Attendance
1960-04-30	South Africa	18-10	Scotland	Test match	24,000
1960-08-27	South Africa	8-3	New Zealand	Test match	53,000
1961-08-12	South Africa	23-11	Australia	Test match	26,000
1962-06-30	Eastern Province	6-21	British Lions	Tour match
1963-09-07	South Africa	22-6	Australia	Test match	48,600
1968-05-29	Eastern Province	14-23	British Lions	Tour match
1968-06-22	South Africa	6-6	British Lions	Test match	70,000
1970-08-29	South Africa	14-3	New Zealand	Test match	55,000
1974-05-25	South Africa	9-26	British Lions	Test match	55,000
1974-06-13	Eastern Province	14-28	British Lions	Tour match
1980-05-10	Eastern Province	16-28	British Lions	Tour match
1980-06-28	South Africa	12-10	British Lions	Test match	45,000
1984-06-02	South Africa	33-15	England	Test match	46,000
1994-10-08	South Africa	42-22	Argentina	Test match	28,000
1995-06-03	South Africa	20-0	Canada	Test match	31,000
1997-05-24	Eastern Province XV	11-39	British Lions	Tour match
1999-06-12	South Africa	74-3	Italy	Test match	35,000
2001-06-30	South Africa	60-14	Italy	Test match	35,000
2003-06-28	South Africa	26-25	Argentina	Test match	25,000
2005-06-25	South Africa	27-13	France	Test match	35,000
2006-06-17	South Africa	29-15	Scotland	Test match	25,844

Football

Date	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Round	Attendance
2000-07-29	South Africa	0–1	Zimbabwe	2000 COSAFA Cup#Semi-Final
2003-06-14	South Africa	2–1	Trinidad and Tobago	International Friendly	28,000
2006-11-12	South Africa	2–3	Senegal	Nelson Mandela Challenge
2008-06-01	South Africa	0–1	Nigeria	2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier	30,000

See also

• Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
• List of stadiums in South Africa
• List of African stadiums by capacity

References

1. ^ Lambley, Garrin (11 July 2013). "So sad. Boet Erasmus in Ruin". Sport24. Retrieved 11 May 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
2. ^ Foster, Grant (15 November). "Former EP Rugby home in ruins". SA Promo. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
3. "Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth 13 July 1974". Official Website of the British and Irish Lions. Archived from the original on 22 October 2006.
4. Byron, George (14 May 2005). "Recalling those legendary 'Battles of the Boet'". Weekend Post. Archived from the original on 3 August 2009.
5. Staff (24 November 2002). "Sports File: Caught in Time: Lions in South Africa, 1974". The Sunday Times.
6. English, Tom. "Rampant Lions - South Africa 1974". Archived from the original on 27 October 2007. cites it is a copy an article in The Sunday Times, 20 May 2001.
7. Doyle, Paul (6 October 2006). "Small talk: JPR Williams". The Guardian Unlimited. Archived from the original on 20 January 2008.
8. Thomas, Clem; Thomas, Greg (2013). 125 Years of the British and Irish Lions: The Official History (illustrated ed.). Random House. p. iv. ISBN 9781780577388.
9. "'Battle of Boet Erasmus' remembered". News24. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
10. "1995 RWC Battle of Boet Erasmus - South Africa vs Canada". Rugby Dump. 4 June 2015. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2016.

External links

• Photos of Stadiums in South Africa at cafe.daum.net/stade

• Soccer venues in South Africa
• Rugby union stadiums in South Africa
• Rugby World Cup stadiums
• Buildings and structures in Gqeberha
• Sport in Gqeberha
• Sports venues in the Eastern Cape
• Sports venues demolished in 2019
• Demolished buildings and structures in South Africa