It has been confirmed that ex Springbok Robbie Kempson was appointed as the new Head of Rugby at the prestigious Grey High School in Gqberka. Kempson was selected from a group of applicants that included Barend Pieterse (ex Springbok), Peter Engledow (Boishaai & Griquas) and Brent Janse van Rensburg (Sharks and Griquas).
Kempson (born 23 February 1974) is an ex Springbok rugby player and recently was the Director of High Performance and interim head coach of the Southern Kings in Pro14..
He played rugby between 1994 and 2003 for Natal, Western Province and Irish side Ulster, and also played in 37 test matches and one tour match for the South Africa national team. His regular position was prop.
Kempson's relationship with Alan Solomons continued when his playing career ended, and Kempson was appointed a forwards coach at the UCT Ikey Tigers, where Solomons was the technical director.[20] He also assisted Gary Gold by coaching the Western Province Vodacom Cup team in 2007[21] and Namibia in their preparation for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.[22]
In 2009, Kempson moved to Port Elizabeth to join Alan Solomons' coaching staff at the Mighty Elephants, where he was also appointed the manager of their newly established academy in 2010. Kempson remained in his role as Academy Director over the next few years, also coaching the Eastern Province u/21 side in 2011, 2012 and 2013 Under-21 Provincial Championships and the NMMU Young Guns in the 2014 and 2015 Varsity Cup Young Guns competitions.
In March 2016, the Eastern Province Rugby Union confirmed that Kempson would be the head coach of the Eastern Province Kings for the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series. Kempson was appointed as interim head coach of the Kings Franchise at the beginning of the 2019/2020 season until the voluntary liquidation of the franchise in September 2020.